(Download) "Tennard V. Dretke" by Supreme Court of the United States # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Tennard V. Dretke
- Author : Supreme Court of the United States
- Release Date : January 24, 2004
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 74 KB
Description
In Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U. S. 302 (1989) (Penry I), we held that the Texas capital sentencing scheme provided a constitutionally inadequate vehicle for jurors to consider and give effect to the mitigating evidence of mental retardation and childhood abuse the petitioner had presented. The petitioner in this case argues that the same scheme was inadequate for jurors to give effect to his evidence of low intelligence. The Texas courts rejected his claim, and a Federal District Court denied his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. We conclude that "reasonable jurists would find the district court's assessment of the constitutional claims debatable or wrong," Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U. S. 473, 484 (2000), and therefore hold that a certificate of appealability should have issued.