Episode description

Welcome to Supreme Court Opinions. In this episode, you’ll hear the Court’s opinion in Thornell v Jones.

In this case, the court considered this issue: What is the proper methodology for assessing prejudice, for purposes of an ineffective assistance of counsel claim?

The case was decided on May 30, 2024.

The Supreme Court held that when a capital defendant claims that he was prejudiced at sentencing because counsel failed to present available mitigating evidence, a court must decide whether it is reasonably likely that the additional evidence would have avoided a death sentence, which the court does by evaluating the strength of all the evidence and comparing the weight of aggravating and mitigating factors. Justice Samuel Alito authored the 6-3 majority opinion of the Court.

To show ineffective assistance of counsel, Jones needed to prove his counsel's performance was deficient and prejudiced the outcome, meaning there was a reasonable probability that absent the errors, the sentencer would not have imposed the death penalty. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit failed to properly apply this standard in three ways: (1) It did not adequately consider the serious aggravating circumstances in Jones’s case; (2) It applied an unsound rule prohibiting comparative analysis of expert testimony; and (3) It incorrectly suggested the sentencer cannot find mitigating evidence unpersuasive. Weighing the mitigating and aggravating evidence itself, the Court determined that most of Jones’s mitigating evidence was already presented in state court and the new evidence was not substantial. In contrast, the aggravating circumstances—multiple homicides, cruelty, financial motivation, and murder of a child—are given great weight under Arizona law. Past Arizona cases with similar aggravating factors resulted in the death penalty even with significant mitigating evidence. Therefore, there was no reasonable probability that Jones’s additional evidence would have changed the sentencing outcome.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor authored a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Elena Kagan joined. Justice Sotomayor argued that while she agreed that the Ninth Circuit “all but ignored the strong aggravating circumstances in this case,” the majority “unnecessarily” reweighed the evidence itself rather than remanding it to the lower court to decide in the first instance.

The opinion is presented here in its entirety, but with citations omitted. If you appreciate this episode, please subscribe. Thank you.