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Rosemary L. Decosimo v. Tennessee

Paid petition · Supreme Court of Tennessee, Eastern Division, No. E2017-00696-SC-R11-CD · judgment August 23, 2018


Certiorari denied · January 7, 2019
Pre-decision estimate: 2% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

Whether the right to a fair trial guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment and right to due process under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution were violated by Tennessee Code Annotated section 55-10-413(f)(2017) which awarded the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation $250 for every chemical test it conducted that led to a conviction? Whether there is a standard of impartiality required by the right to a fair trial under the Sixth Amendment and the right to due process under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution that is applicable to forensic scientists working for law enforcement agencies?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Gerald Howard Summers
Summers, Rufolo, & Rodgers, P.C.

For respondent
Jonathan David Shaub
Office of the Tennessee Attorney General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Jan 07 2019
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Dec 05 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/4/2019.
  3. Nov 26 2018
    Waiver of right of respondent Tennessee to respond filed.
  4. Oct 29 2018
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 30, 2018)