Supreme Court Restores Death Sentence in Kansas Murder Case
Defendant argued Fifth Amendment violation for being forced to submit to mental health testing
The Supreme Court on Wednesday restored a death sentence for a Kansas murderer who claimed his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination had been violated when he was forced to submit to a mental health exam after claiming he was under the influence of drugs when he shot a sheriff.
In a 9-0 decision written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court ruled that if a defendant claims he was "intoxicated" at the time of the crime, the prosecutor may require an exam by a mental health expert and then release the findings to a jury.
The 5th Amendment does not allow defendants to present a "one-sided and potentially inaccurate view of his mental state at the time of the crime," Sotomayor wrote.
Sotomayor said that even if a defendant does not testify directly about his mental state, he opens the door to being required to respond to questions once he relies on his mental state or his intoxication as a defense.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?