{"id":11302,"date":"2025-03-24T09:42:47","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T16:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=11302"},"modified":"2025-03-25T10:22:40","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T17:22:40","slug":"are-state-courts-required-to-accept-a-confession-of-error-in-a-capital-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=11302","title":{"rendered":"Are State Courts Required to Accept a Confession of Error in a Capital Case?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two years ago, in Escobar v.\u00a0Texas<\/em>, No. 21-1601, the Supreme Court issued a “grant, vacate, and remand” order directing the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to reconsider its denial of relief to a death-sentenced murderer ” in light of the confession of error by Texas,” i.e., by the Travis County District Attorney. Are state courts required to accept such confessions of error, however dubious?<\/p>\n

In California, “progressive” district attorneys have made wholesale confessions of error in capital cases just because they disagree with the decision of the people to have capital punishment. Courts have mostly rolled over and gone along with these “take a dive” actions, although last week a Santa Clara County judge did draw the line at resentencing Richard Farley for seven<\/em> murders. See NBC story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Glossip v.\u00a0Oklahoma<\/em>, in which the petitioner had phrased one of the questions presented as: “Whether due process of law requires reversal, where a capital conviction is so infected with errors that the State no longer seeks to defend it. See Escobar v. Texas<\/em>, 143 S. Ct. 557 (2023) (mem.).” The Court did not answer that question but decided on the merits that there was a federal constitutional error.<\/p>\n

On remand in Escobar<\/em>, the Texas CCA again denied relief, holding that the new evidence did not require a change in the outcome, despite what the DA says. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court denied<\/a> Escobar’s petition for a writ of certiorari.<\/p>\n

So far, there is no federal requirement that state courts accept prosecutors’ confessions of error. It remains a matter of state law. There is good reason for courts to be skeptical, given that so many of these are now political rather a good faith judgment on the facts and law of the particular case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two years ago, in Escobar v.\u00a0Texas, No. 21-1601, the Supreme Court issued a “grant, vacate, and remand” order directing the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to reconsider its denial of relief to a death-sentenced murderer ” in light of the confession of error by Texas,” i.e., by the Travis County District Attorney. Are state courts required to accept such confessions of error, however dubious? In California, “progressive” district attorneys have made wholesale confessions of error in capital cases just because they disagree with the decision of the people to have capital punishment. Courts have mostly rolled over and gone along with these “take a dive” actions, although last week a Santa Clara County judge did draw the line at resentencing Richard Farley for seven murders. See NBC story here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,68,56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-habeas-corpus","category-prosecutors","category-u-s-supreme-court"],"yoast_head":"\nAre State Courts Required to Accept a Confession of Error in a Capital Case? - Crime & Consequences<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=11302\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are State Courts Required to Accept a Confession of Error in a Capital Case? - Crime & Consequences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two years ago, in Escobar v.\u00a0Texas, No. 21-1601, the Supreme Court issued a “grant, vacate, and remand” order directing the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to reconsider its denial of relief to a death-sentenced murderer ” in light of the confession of error by Texas,” i.e., by the Travis County District Attorney. 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