Reply #7: Me thinks Rehnquist is seeing a new light….

[peterh]

Via his own potential death sentence….sad that it sometimes takes a life moment to wake up….



Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist had joined Scalia and Thomas in opposing
the outcome of the earlier Texas case. Rehnquist, who has been away from the
court since last month while receiving chemotherapy and radiation for thyroid
cancer, supported the latest decision though no explanation was provided.
In his appeal, Smith argued that jurors weren't allowed to consider evidence
including that he was 19 at the time of the Taco Bell robbery, that he had a
troubled home life and that he had a low IQ and learning disabilities.
A Texas court rejected the claim, saying that wasn't relevant because there
was no link between the murder and his diminished capacity.
The Supreme Court has been critical of prosecutors' handling of some capital
cases in Texas, which last year was responsible for 24 of the 65 U.S.
executions.
Also Monday, the justices ordered an appeals court to reconsider whether Texas
death row inmate Ted Calvin Cole, known as Jalil Abdul-Kabir, should get a
chance to challenge his sentence on grounds jurors did not take into account his
troubled childhood and emotional disorders. He was convicted of strangling
another man with a dog leash.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-15-04 1442ET(AP-DJ-11-15-04 1942GMT)