Marcus A. Wellons v. Hilton Hall, Warden (558 U.S. 220)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 19, 2010 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 558 U.S. 220 · 130 S. Ct. 727
- Decided
- January 19, 2010
- Term
- October Term 2009
- Vote
- 5–4
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Per Curiam. From beginning to end, judicial proceedings conducted for the purpose of deciding whether a defendant shall be put to death must be conducted with dignity and respect. The disturbing facts of this case raise serious questions concerning the conduct of the trial, and this petition raises a serious question about whether the Court of Appeals carefully reviewed those facts before addressing petitioner’s constitutional claims. We know that the Court of Appeals committed the same procedural error that we corrected in Cone v. Bell, 556 U. S. 449, 466-467 (2009). We do not know how the court would have ruled if it had the benefit of our decision in that case. Petitioner Marcus Wellons was convicted in Georgia state court of rape and murder and sentenced to death. Although the trial looked typical, there were unusual events going on behind the scenes. Only after the trial did defense counsel learn that there had been unreported ex parte contacts between the jury and the judge, that jurors and a bailiff had planned a reunion, and that “either during or immediately following the penalty phase, some jury members gave the trial judge chocolate shaped as male genitalia and the bailiff chocolate shaped as female breasts,” 554 F. 3d 923, 930 (CA11 2009). The judge had not reported any of this to the defense. Neither Wellons nor any court has ascertained exactly what went on at…
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