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Case Name
LaGrand v. Lewis
CJ-AZ-0001
Docket / Court
4:92-cv-00026-JMR ( D. Ariz. )
State/Territory
Arizona
Case Type(s)
Criminal Justice (Other)
Case Summary
After his murder conviction was affirmed, and his first petition for habeas corpus was denied, Karl LaGrand, an Arizona death row inmate, filed a second habeas corpus petition in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. In the second petition, which was filed in 1998, the plaintiff ...
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After his murder conviction was affirmed, and his first petition for habeas corpus was denied, Karl LaGrand, an Arizona death row inmate, filed a second habeas corpus petition in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. In the second petition, which was filed in 1998, the plaintiff argued that the use of lethal gas as a means of execution violated his constitutional rights because it was cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The District Court denied relief, finding that it lacked jurisdiction over the issue because the plaintiff should have raised the lethal gas argument prior to his first habeas petition. The plaintiff appealed. On February 24, 1999, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Judge Thomas G. Nelson) reversed in part and remanded, holding that the plaintiff had established cause for failing to raise his challenge to the constitutionality of the lethal gas prior to his first habeas petition, that the petitioner established prejudice required to excuse the procedural default of the lethal gas challenge, that the petitioner's voluntary choice of lethal gas as a method of execution did not waive his claim that the use of lethal gas was unconstitutional, and that the Arizona method of using lethal gas to execute inmates violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. LaGrand v. Stewart, 173 F.3d 1144 (9th Cir. 1999).
The defendants appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking them to vacate the stay of execution of the death sentence. On February 24, 1999, the same day as the Ninth Circuit opinion, the Supreme Court granted the defendants' request and vacated the stay of execution order without issuing an explanatory opinion. Stewart v. LaGrand, 525 U.S. 1173 (1999). The plaintiff filed a petition for a writ of certiorari, and on April 14, 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the petition. Stewart v. LaGrand, 526 U.S. 1061 (1999).
Karl Hinze LaGrand was executed on February 24, 1999 by lethal injection.
Kristen Sagar - 08/23/2007
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Issues and Causes of Action
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Issues
Constitutional Clause
Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Causes of Action
42 U.S.C. ยง 1983
Case Details
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Defendant(s)
Arizona Department of Corrections
Plaintiff Description
an Arizona death row inmate
Class action status sought
No
Class action status granted
No
Filed Pro Se
No
Prevailing Party
Defendant
Public Int. Lawyer
No
Nature of Relief
None
Source of Relief
None
Filed
04/01/1992
Case Closing Year
1999
Case Ongoing
No
Additional Resources
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Documents
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Court
Docket(s)
D. Ariz.
02/26/1999
92-0217
CJ-AZ-0001-9001.pdf
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Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
D. Ariz.
03/05/1999
92-0026
CJ-AZ-0001-9000.pdf
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Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
General Documents
State Supreme Court
01/30/1987
Order
(733 P.2d 1066)
CJ-AZ-0001-0006.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Google Scholar
U.S. Supreme Court
10/05/1987
Opinion
(484 U.S. 872)
CJ-AZ-0001-0007.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Westlaw
D. Ariz.
02/16/1995
Order
(883 F.Supp. 451)
CJ-AZ-0001-0001.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Google Scholar
D. Ariz.
03/30/1995
Order
(883 F.Supp. 469)
CJ-AZ-0001-0004.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Google Scholar
U.S. Court of Appeals
01/16/1998
Opinion
(133 F.3d 1253)
CJ-AZ-0001-0002.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Google Scholar
U.S. Supreme Court
11/02/1998
Ruling on Petition for Certiorari
(525 U.S. 971)
CJ-AZ-0001-0008.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Westlaw
U.S. Supreme Court
12/07/1998
Ruling on Petition for Rehearing
(525 U.S. 1050)
CJ-AZ-0001-0009.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Westlaw
U.S. Court of Appeals
02/24/1999
Opinion
(173 F.3d 1144)
CJ-AZ-0001-0003.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Google Scholar
U.S. Supreme Court
02/24/1999
Order
(525 U.S. 1173)
CJ-AZ-0001-0010.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Westlaw
U.S. Court of Appeals
02/26/1999
Amended Order
(170 F.3d 1158)
CJ-AZ-0001-0005.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Google Scholar
U.S. Supreme Court
04/14/1999
Order [Case dismissed]
(526 U.S. 1061)
CJ-AZ-0001-0011.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Westlaw
People
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Judges
Brennan, William Joseph Jr.
(SCOTUS)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0007
Ginsburg, Ruth Bader
(D.C. Circuit, SCOTUS)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0010
Gordon, Frank X. Jr.
(State Supreme Court)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0006
Hug, Procter Ralph Jr.
(Ninth Circuit)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0005
Marshall, Thurgood
(Second Circuit, SCOTUS)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0007
Nelson, Thomas G.
(Ninth Circuit)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0002 | CJ-AZ-0001-0003 | CJ-AZ-0001-0005
O'Connor, Sandra Day
(SCOTUS)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0010
Pregerson, Harry
(C.D. Cal., Ninth Circuit)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0005
Roll, John McCarthy
(D. Ariz.)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0001 | CJ-AZ-0001-0004 | CJ-AZ-0001-9000 | CJ-AZ-0001-9001
Scalia, Antonin
(D.C. Circuit, SCOTUS)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0010
Stevens, John Paul
(Seventh Circuit, SCOTUS)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0010
Plaintiff's Lawyers
Burke, Bruce A.
(Arizona)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0001 | CJ-AZ-0001-0002 | CJ-AZ-0001-0004 | CJ-AZ-0001-9001
Claiborne, Elizabeth F.
(Arizona)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0006
Ryan, Carla G.
(Arizona)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0001 | CJ-AZ-0001-0002 | CJ-AZ-0001-0003 | CJ-AZ-0001-0004 | CJ-AZ-0001-0005 | CJ-AZ-0001-9000 | CJ-AZ-0001-9001
Weeks, Lawrence B.
(California)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0001 | CJ-AZ-0001-0002 | CJ-AZ-0001-0004 | CJ-AZ-0001-9000 | CJ-AZ-0001-9001
Weiss, Stephen M.
(Arizona)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0006
Defendant's Lawyers
Fadell, Gary A
(Arizona)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0006
McMurdie, Paul J
(Arizona)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0002 | CJ-AZ-0001-0003 | CJ-AZ-0001-0005
Ramsey, Diane M.
(Arizona)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0001 | CJ-AZ-0001-0004 | CJ-AZ-0001-0006 | CJ-AZ-0001-9000
Schafer, William J III
(Arizona)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0006
Woods, Grant
(Arizona)
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CJ-AZ-0001-0001 | CJ-AZ-0001-0004
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