Schlup v. Delo

Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298 (1995), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court expanded the ability to reopen a case in light of new evidence of innocence.[1]

Schlup v. Delo
Argued October 3, 1994
Decided January 23, 1995
Full case nameLloyd Schlup, Petitioner v. Paul K. Delo, Superintendent, Potosi Correctional Center
Citations513 U.S. 298 (more)
115 S. Ct. 851; 130 L. Ed. 2d 808; 1995 U.S. LEXIS 701
Case history
Prior11 F.3d 738 (8th Cir. 1993); cert. granted, 511 U.S. 1003 (1994).
Holding
A condemned man can bypass the procedural bar on successive federal habeas corpus petitions if he shows that "a constitutional violation has probably resulted in the conviction of one who is actually innocent".
Court membership
Chief Justice
William Rehnquist
Associate Justices
John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor
Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy
David Souter · Clarence Thomas
Ruth Bader Ginsburg · Stephen Breyer
Case opinions
MajorityStevens, joined by O'Connor, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer
ConcurrenceO'Connor
DissentRehnquist, joined by Kennedy, Thomas
DissentScalia, joined by Thomas

Petitioner Lloyd E. Schlup, Jr., a Missouri prisoner under a sentence of death for the 1984 murder of an inmate named Arthur Dade, filed a habeas corpus petition alleging that constitutional error deprived the jury of critical evidence that would have established his innocence. The Court granted certiorari to consider whether the Sawyer v. Whitley[2] standard provides adequate protection against the kind of miscarriage of justice that would result from the execution of a person who is actually innocent.

Opinion of the Court

The Court held[1] that the standard of Murray v. Carrier,[3] which requires a habeas petitioner to show that "a constitutional violation has probably resulted in the conviction of one who is actually innocent," id., at 496—rather than the more stringent Sawyer standard, governs the miscarriage of justice inquiry when a petitioner who has been sentenced to death raises a claim of actual innocence to avoid a procedural bar to the consideration of the merits of his constitutional claims.

Subsequent Developments

In 1996, Schlup was granted a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that his original trial attorney failed to adequately represent him. In 1999, on the second day of his re-trial, Schlup agreed to plead guilty to second degree murder which allowed him to avoid the death penalty.[4]

See also

References
  1. Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298 (1995).
  2. Sawyer v. Whitley, 505 U.S. 333 (1992).
  3. Murray v. Carrier, 477 U.S. 478 (1986).
  4. "Additional Innocence Information". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
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