Citations 513 U.S. 298 (more) End date 1995 | Concurrence O'Connor | |
Full case name Lloyd Schlup, Petitioner v. Paul K. Delo, Superintendent, Potosi Correctional Center Majority Stevens, joined by O'Connor, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer Dissent Rehnquist, joined by Kennedy, Thomas Dissent Scalia, joined by Thomas Similar Kyles v Whitley, Arizona v Youngblood, Riggins v Nevada, Brady v Maryland, Godinez v Moran | ||
Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298 (1995)[1], was a case in which the United States Supreme Court expanded the ability to reopen a case in light of new evidence of innocence.
Contents
Petitioner Lloyd E. Schlup, Jr., a Missouri prisoner under a sentence of death for the 1984 murder of an inmate named Arthur Dade, filed a habeas corpus petition alleging that constitutional error deprived the jury of critical evidence that would have established his innocence. The Court granted certiorari to consider whether the Sawyer v. Whitley standard provides adequate protection against the kind of miscarriage of justice that would result from the execution of a person who is actually innocent.
Opinion of the Court
The Court held that the standard of Murray v. Carrier, 477 U.S. 478, which requires a habeas petitioner to show that "a constitutional violation has probably resulted in the conviction of one who is actually innocent," id., at 496 - rather than the more stringent Sawyer standard, governs the miscarriage of justice inquiry when a petitioner who has been sentenced to death raises a claim of actual innocence to avoid a procedural bar to the consideration of the merits of his constitutional claims.
Subsequent Developments
In 1996, Schlup was granted a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that his original trial attorney failed to adequately represent him. In 1999, on the second day of his re-trial, Schlup agreed to plead guilty to second degree murder which allowed him to avoid the death penalty.