Supreme Court Report

Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

Pennsylvania v.William R. Landis, Jr.

Paid petition · Superior Court of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg Office, No. 1785 MDA 2017 · judgment December 24, 2018

Certiorari denied · March 2, 2020
Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

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

Question presented

Did the Superior Court of Pennsylvania err in finding that the reinstatement of Murder in the Third Degree upon the award of a new trial violated the Double Jeopardy Clause, where the verdict for this offense was not guilty in the first trial, but Respondent Landis was convicted of Murder in the First Degree and the proposed charge is a lesser included offense, contrary to relevant precedent established by this Honorable Court in Blueford v. Arkansas, 566 U.S. 599, 611-612 (2012) and Poland v. Arizona, 476 U.S. 147 (1986)? Answered in the negative by the court below. Suggested Answer: Yes. Did the Superior Court of Pennsylvania err in finding that the intention of presenting a defense of diminished capacity by voluntary intoxication upon retrial, which under Pennsylvania law reduces the mens rea from Murder in the First Degree to Murder in the Third Degree, effectively waives any claim to double jeopardy protection for the reinstatement of the charge of Murder in the Third Degree? Question posed but not answered by the court below. Suggested Answer: Yes

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Alisa Rebecca Orner Hobart
Berks County District Attorney's Office

For respondent
Mark Kraus McCulloch
MKM LAW PA

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Proceedings

  1. Mar 02 2020
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Feb 12 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/28/2020.
  3. Jan 29 2020
    Brief of respondent William R. Landis, Jr. in opposition filed.
  4. Jan 03 2020
    Response Requested. (Due February 3, 2020)
  5. Dec 18 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/10/2020.
  6. Dec 10 2019
    Waiver of right of respondent William R. Landis, Jr. to respond filed.
  7. Dec 09 2019
    Waiver of William R. Landis, Jr. of right to respond not accepted for filing. (December 10, 2019)
  8. Dec 03 2019
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 6, 2020)