James R. Stringer v. Lee Roy Black, Commissioner, Mississippi Department of Corrections, et al. (503 U.S. 222)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 9, 1992 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 503 U.S. 222 · 112 S. Ct. 1130
- Decided
- March 9, 1992
- Term
- October Term 1991
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Kennedy
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court. The death sentence of the petitioner in this case was decreed by a judgment that became final before we decided either Maynard v. Cartwright, 486 U. S. 356 (1988), or Clemons v. Mississippi, 494 U. S. 738 (1990). The petitioner argues that the State of Mississippi committed the same error in his case as it did in Clemons, and that under both Maynard and Clemons his sentence is unconstitutional. The question presented is whether in a federal habeas corpus proceeding a petitioner is foreclosed from relying on Maynard and Clemons because either or both announced a new rule as defined in Teague v. Lane, 489 U. S. 288 (1989). I In June 1982, Ray McWilliams and his wife, Nell, were shot to death in their Jackson, Mississippi, home as part of an armed robbery. The petitioner James R. Stringer did not fire the fatal shots, but he did plan the robbery and take part in it. The killing was part of his plan from the outset. The crimes, and their gruesome aspects, are described in the opinion of the Mississippi Supreme Court on direct review of the conviction and sentence. Stringer v. State, 454 So. 2d 468, 471-473 (1984). Under Mississippi law the death sentence may be imposed for murders designated by statute as “capital murder.” Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-19(2) (Supp. 1991). A killing in the course of a burglary or robbery is included…
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