Tucker v. Kemp, Warden

Background

William Tucker, a man convicted of murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, and aggravated sodomy, was sentenced to death after a jury found him guilty. At trial intent was a key issue and testimony described Tucker as intoxicated on the day of the crimes. He later raised a claim that the trial judge’s jury instruction improperly shifted the burden of proving intent onto him.

Reasoning

Tucker sought federal review and an evidentiary hearing, arguing the jury instruction was like the one the Court struck down in Francis v. Franklin. The District Court and the Court of Appeals refused further review, treating Tucker’s new claim as an abuse of the federal habeas process because it was not in his earlier petition. The Supreme Court, presented with a last-minute application to stay the execution and a petition to hear the case, denied the stay and declined to take the petition, and it would not extend the temporary stay previously granted.

Real world impact

Because the Court refused to delay or hear the appeal, Tucker’s death sentence is permitted to proceed as scheduled and his Franklin-based challenge was not decided by the Court. The lower courts’ rulings that the claim was an abusive second petition remain in place, and the constitutional question about the jury instruction was not resolved here.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Brennan, joined by Justice Marshall (and in part by Justice Blackmun), dissented. He argued the Franklin claim was substantial and that Tucker had valid reasons for not raising it earlier, and he would have granted a stay and taken the case to vacate the death sentence.