Jurors Should Have Heard of Veteran’s Stress Disorder, Supreme Court Rules
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a Korean War veteran on death row deserves a new sentencing hearing because his lawyer did not introduce evidence of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Washington Post calls the unsigned opinion “strikingly sympathetic” to veteran George Porter, while the New York Times said it “displayed unusual solicitude for a death-row inmate.” The Los Angeles Times and the National Law Journal also covered yesterday’s decision.
“Our nation has a long tradition of according leniency to veterans in recognition of their service, especially for those who fought on the front lines,” the opinion said.
Porter pleaded guilty to killing his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend. His court-appointed lawyer for the sentencing hearing presented only one witness, Porter’s ex-wife, and he did not interview any other relatives or obtain school or military records, according to a summary of the decision in the Times.
The court said the lawyer’s investigation was not “even cursory.”
During the war, Porter had engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat and in one battle, more than half of his company was killed, according to evidence presented in a hearing during Porter’s appeal.
The case is Porter v. McCollum.
