Justices Take on Postconviction Review in Arizona Death Case

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an Arizona death-row appeal over the interplay between state and federal rules for postconviction review.

Death-row prisoner John Cruz says the state is flouting high-court precedent while officials say a state procedural rule blocks relief.

In 1994’s Simmons v. South Carolina, the U.S. Supreme Court said that, in cases where a capital defendant’s future dangerousness is at issue, the defendant can tell the jury he’s ineligible for parole if not sentenced to death. In 2016’s Lynch v. Arizona, the justices confirmed the Simmons rule applies in that state.

Cruz was sentenced to ...