US Supreme Court Denies Relief To Alabama Death Row Prisoner Matthew Reeves

US Supreme Court Denies Relief to Alabama Death Row Prisoner Matthew Reeves

The US Supreme Court on Friday ruled to reverse a Court of Appeals decision that granted relief to Alabama death-row prisoner Matthew Reeves for not being adequately represented by his lawyers

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd July, 2021) The US Supreme Court on Friday ruled to reverse a Court of Appeals decision that granted relief to Alabama death-row prisoner Matthew Reeves for not being adequately represented by his lawyers.

Reeves was convicted of murdering a man who helped him tow his broken-down car and sentenced to death based on the aggravating nature of the crime that included shooting the victim in the back of the head and then inventing a dance that replicated the victim's dying movements.

Reeves argued his counsel ineffectively defended him by failing to provide evidence that he is intellectually disabled and can not be legally executed. Much of the arguments in the case centered on intelligence tests proving Reeves' intellectual disability and the fact his lawyers did not acquire expert opinion to show their client's disability.

The Supreme Court said the legal question at hand was whether the lower court in Alabama violated US Federal law when it rejected Reeves' claim that his attorneys should have hired an expert.

"We think it clear from context that the Alabama court did not apply a blanket rule, but rather determined that the facts of this case did not merit relief... For the foregoing reasons, we grant the petition for a writ of certiorari, reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals, and remand the case for proceedings consistent with this opinion," the Supreme Court said.