Cruz v. Arizona (598 U.S. 17)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided February 22, 2023 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 598 U.S. 17 · 143 S. Ct. 650
- Decided
- February 22, 2023
- Term
- October Term 2022
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Sotomayor
- Issue area
- Federalism
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
PRELIMINARY PRINT Volume 598 U. S. Part 1 Pages 17–38 OFFICIAL REPORTS OF THE SUPREME COURT February 22, 2023 Page Proof Pending Publication REBECCA A. WOMELDORF reporter of decisions NOTICE: This preliminary print is subject to formal revision before the bound volume is published. Users are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D.C. 20543, pio@supremecourt.gov, of any typographical or other formal errors. OCTOBER TERM, 2022 17 Syllabus CRUZ v. ARIZONA certiorari to the supreme court of arizona No. 21–846. Argued November 1, 2022—Decided February 22, 2023 Petitioner John Montenegro Cruz was found guilty of capital murder by an Arizona jury and sentenced to death. Both at trial and on direct appeal, Cruz argued that under Simmons v. South Carolina, 512 U. S. 154 , he should have been allowed to inform the jury that a life sentence in Arizona would be without parole. The trial court and Arizona Su- preme Court held that Arizona's capital sentencing scheme did not trig- ger application of Simmons. After Cruz's conviction became fnal, this Court held in Lynch v. Arizona, 578 U. S. 613 (per curiam), that it was fundamental error to conclude that Simmons “did not apply” in Arizona. 578 U. S., at 615. Cruz then sought to raise the Simmons issue again in a state postconviction petition under Arizona Rule of Criminal Proce- dure…
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