March 25, 2009 |
2009-R-0155 | |
HABEAS CORPUS PETITIONS BY INMATES SENTENCED TO DEATH | ||
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By: Christopher Reinhart, Senior Attorney | ||
You asked which inmates sentenced to death have filed a habeas corpus petition after losing their direct appeals and how soon the petitions were filed after the appeals ended.
Four of the 10 inmates sentenced to death in Connecticut have completed their appeals and filed state habeas corpus petitions.
In all four of these cases, the inmate's state proceedings ended with a final decision by the Connecticut Supreme Court. Each inmate then filed a petition to the U. S. Supreme Court. After the U. S. Supreme Court declined the case, the inmate's direct appeals of the conviction and death sentence ended and each inmate filed a habeas corpus petition in state court.
The inmates filed their habeas corpus petitions between one and 15 days after the U. S. Supreme Court denied their petitions. The chart below displays the dates for direct appeals and habeas corpus petitions for these four inmates sentenced to death.
Name |
Connecticut Supreme Court Appeals |
U. S. Supreme Court Petitions |
Habeas Corpus Petitions |
Robert Breton |
● Sentence overturned: August 22, 1995 ● New sentence upheld: June 24, 2003 |
Denied: December 1, 2003 |
Filed: December 2, 2003 |
Name |
Connecticut Supreme Court Appeals |
U. S. Supreme Court Petitions |
Habeas Corpus Petitions |
Daniel Webb |
● Remand for hearing on constitutionality of lethal injection: July 30, 1996 ● Affirmed: February 15, 2000 |
Denied: October 2, 2000 |
Filed: October 17, 2000 |
Sedrick Cobb |
● Decision: August 8, 1995 ● Affirmed: December 7, 1999 |
Denied: October 2, 2000 |
Filed: October 17, 2000 |
Richard Reynolds |
● Affirmed: June 3, 2003 |
Denied: March 8, 2004 |
Filed: March 19, 2004 |
● Connecticut Supreme Court and U. S. Supreme Court dates based on court opinions.
● Habeas corpus filing dates confirmed using case look-up on the Judicial Branch's website.
In addition, a state habeas corpus case involves nine of the 10 inmates currently sentenced to death in Connecticut (In Re: Claims of Racial Disparity in Death Penalty Cases). This case consolidates all racial disparity claims by inmates sentenced to death. It was filed on August 29, 2005 and involves the following inmates:
1. Lazale Ashby
2. Robert Breton
3. Campbell
4. Sedrick Cobb
5. Robert Courchesne
6. Russell Peeler, Jr.
7. Richard Reynolds
8. Eduardo Santiago
9. Daniel Webb
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