Justice Sotomayor is starting to make a regular habit of adding some interest to otherwise ho-hum order lists with lots and lots of certiorari denials. Today's SCOTUS order list, for example, gets some intrigue from her statement "respecting the denial of certiorari" in Townes v. Alabama, No. 17–7894. Her five-page statement starts and ends this way:
Today the Court denies review of Tawuan Townes’ capital murder conviction, the constitutionality of which hinges on whether the trial court instructed jurors that they “may” infer his intent to kill a victim or that they “must” do so. The former instruction is constitutional; the latter is not. There is no way to know for sure which instruction the trial court gave. Two court reporters certified two conflicting transcripts, and the trial court no longer has the original recording. Because Townes has not shown that the procedures below amount to constitutional error, I must vote to deny his petition for certiorari. I write separately because the trial court’s failure to preserve the original recording gives cause for deep concern....
The Constitution guarantees certain procedural protections when the government seeks to prove that a person should pay irreparably for a crime. A reliable, credible record is essential to ensure that a reviewing court — not to mention the defendant and the public at large — can say with confidence whether those fundamental rights have been respected. Parker v. Dugger, 498 U. S. 308, 321 (1991) (“It cannot be gainsaid that meaningful appellate review requires that the appellate court consider the defendant’s actual record”). By fostering uncertainty about the result here, the trial court’s actions in this case erode that confidence. That gives me — and should give us all — great pause.
Comments
Post a Comment