Thomas Schiro v. Robert Farley, Superintendent, Indiana State Prison, et al. (510 U.S. 222)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 19, 1994 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 510 U.S. 222 · 114 S. Ct. 783
- Decided
- January 19, 1994
- Term
- October Term 1993
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority author
- Justice O'Connor
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice O’Connor delivered the opinion of the Court. In this case we determine whether the Double Jeopardy Clause requires us to vacate the sentence of death imposed on petitioner Thomas Schiro. For the reasons explained below, we hold that it does not. I Schiro was convicted and sentenced to death for murder. The body of Laura Luebbehusen was discovered in her home on the morning of February 5, 1981, by her roommate, Darlene Hooper, and Darlene Hooper’s former husband. Darlene Hooper, who had been away, returned to find the home in disarray. Blood covered the walls and floor; Laura Luebbehusen’s semiclad body was lying near the entrance. The police recovered from the scene a broken vodka bottle, a handle and metal portions of an iron, and bottles of various types of liquor. The pathologist testified that there were a number of contusions on the body, including injuries to the head. The victim also had lacerations on one nipple and a thigh, and a tear in the vagina, all caused after death. A forensic dentist determined that the thigh injury was caused by a human bite. The cause of death was strangulation. Laura Luebbehusen’s car was later found near a halfway house where Schiro was living. Schiro told one counselor at the halfway house he wanted to discuss something “heavy.” App. 53. Schiro later confessed to another counselor that he had committed the murder. After his…
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