Death Sentence Upheld Despite Juror Issue, Mental Illness Claim

A Texas death row inmate won’t get resentenced based on his alleged schizophrenia, his lawyer’s failure to point it out, or the exclusion of a potential juror who waffled about his willingness to impose a capital sentence.

Demetrius D. Smith, who was convicted of a double murder in 2006, won a writ of habeas corpus in Texas federal court last year, when a judge said the questioning that led to a potential juror’s exclusion from his state court trial was constitutionally flawed. The juror was asked if he had any qualms about the death penalty but not whether he could ...