Supreme Court to Again Consider Death Sentence in Arizona Case

The US Supreme Court will consider whether a new hearing is required for an Arizona death row inmate, the second time Danny Lee Jones’ case has come before the justices.

Jones was convicted in the 1992 beating death of Robert Weaver and his seven-year-old daughter. He appealed both death sentences.

The Ninth Circuit granted Jones a new hearing but the Supreme Court summarily reversed that decision in 2011, sending the case back to the appeals court.

The Ninth Circuit again found that Jones was entitled to a new hearing because he’d received ineffective assistance of counsel during the sentencing phase. ...