Raul Lopez, Warden v. Marvin Vernis Smith (574 U.S. 1)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided October 6, 2014 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 574 U.S. 1 · 135 S. Ct. 1
- Decided
- October 6, 2014
- Term
- October Term 2014
- Vote
- 9–0
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Opinion PER CURIAM. When a state prisoner seeks federal habeas relief on the ground that a state court, in adjudicating a claim on the merits, misapplied federal law, a federal court may grant relief only if the state court's decision was "contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States." 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1). We have emphasized, time and again, that the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), 110 Stat. 1214, prohibits the federal courts of appeals from relying on their own precedent to conclude that a particular constitutional principle is "clearly established." See, e.g.,Marshall v. Rodgers,569 U.S. ----, ----, 133 S.Ct. 1446, 1450-1451, 185 L.Ed.2d 540 (2013)(per curiam). Because the Ninth Circuit failed to comply with this rule, we reverse its decision granting habeas relief to respondent Marvin Smith. I Respondent was arrested for the murder of his wife, Minnie Smith. On December 15, 2005, Mrs. Smith was found dead in the home she shared with respondent, and it was determined that she was killed by a massive blow to the head from a fireplace log roller. The home appeared to have been ransacked, and valuable jewelry was missing. The State charged respondent with first-degree murder and offered substantial incriminating evidence at trial. The…
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