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Craig M. Wood v. Missouri

Paid petition · Supreme Court of Missouri, No. SC96924 · judgment July 16, 2019

Certiorari denied · April 20, 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

In this capital case, a Missouri jury found the existence of aggravating factors but deadlocked as to whether to impose the death penalty. Under Missouri’s capital sentencing scheme, the entire sentencing decision was taken away from the jury and given to the trial judge, who sentenced petitioner to death. Petitioner argued that this sentencing scheme violates his right under the Sixth and Eighth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States to have a jury make the key findings necessary to sentence him to death. Acknowledging a split, the Missouri Supreme Court affirmed petitioner’s sentence. The question presented is: Whether the Constitution requires that a jury, rather than a judge, weigh the aggravating and mitigating circumstances to determine whether a defendant may be sentenced to death.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Tejinder Singh
Sparacino PLLC

For respondent
D. John Sauer
James Otis Law Group, LLC

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Linked docket
19A570

Proceedings

  1. Apr 20 2020
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Apr 01 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/17/2020.
  3. Mar 19 2020
    Rescheduled.
  4. Mar 18 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/3/2020.
  5. Mar 18 2020
    Reply of petitioner Craig M. Wood filed. (Distributed)
  6. Mar 04 2020
    Brief of respondent State of Missouri in opposition filed.
  7. Jan 31 2020
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 4, 2020)
  8. Dec 30 2019
    Application (19A570) granted by Justice Gorsuch extending the time to file until January 31, 2020.
  9. Dec 19 2019
    Application (19A570) to extend further the time from January 3, 2020 to January 31, 2020, submitted to Justice Gorsuch.
    Written RequestProof of Service
  10. Nov 19 2019
    Application (19A570) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from December 2, 2019 to January 3, 2020, submitted to Justice Gorsuch.
    Main DocumentLower Court Orders/OpinionsProof of Service
  11. Nov 19 2019
    Application (19A570) granted by Justice Gorsuch extending the time to file until January 3, 2020.