Cullen v. Pinholster
- Decided
- April 4, 2011
- Docket
- No. 09-1088
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 5,931 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- recognizing that federal habeas courts may "take new evidence in an evidentiary hearing" when § 2254(d)does not bar relief — Brumfield v. Cain (2015)
- holding that federal courts must first determine whether a petitioner satisfies § 2254(d) before they may consider new evidence acquired during a federal hearing — Warren Lee Hill, Jr. v. Carl Humphrey (2011)
- holding that reasonableness review under the AEDPA is limited to the record before the state PCR court that adjudicated the claim on the merits — Martin Fong v. Charles Ryan (2014)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
OPINION OF THE COURT [563 U.S. 174] Justice Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.[*] Scott Lynn Pinholster and two accomplices broke into a house in the middle of the night and brutally beat and stabbed to death two men who happened to interrupt the burglary. A jury convicted Pinholster of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to death.
After the California Supreme Court twice unanimously denied Pinholster habeas relief, a Federal District Court held an evidentiary hearing and granted Pinholster habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. §2254. The District Court concluded that Pinholster’s trial counsel had been constitutionally ineffective at the penalty phase of trial. Sitting en banc, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed. Pinholster v. Ayers, 590 F.3d 651 (2009). Considering the new evidence adduced in the District Court hearing, the Court of Appeals held that the California Supreme Court’s decision “was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law.” § 2254(d)(1).
We granted certiorari and now reverse.
Statutes cited
Cite this
Cullen v. Pinholster, 563 U.S. 170 (2011)Read the full opinion
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