The US Supreme Court [official website] denied certiorari [order list, PDF Monday in the death penalty case Elmore v. Holbrook [materials]. The main issue in the case was whether a defendant’s counsel can present one mitigating factor at the sentencing phase, without thoroughly investigating the possibility of other mitigating factors. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, dissented from the denial. Sotomayor argued that the court should have accepted the case, and further, that they would find that the representation was a violation of the Sixth Amendment’s right to effective assistance of counsel.

Elmore was convicted in 1995 for raping and murdering a teenage girl. It was the first death penalty case for his lawyer, Jon Komorowski, who is now the public defender of Whatcom County, Washington. At the sentencing hearing, the lawyer made a lengthy argument about Elmore’s remorse rather than present evidence of Elmore’s disabilities and possible exposure to harmful chemicals, a decision Komorowski later admitted [AP report] was a mistake due to his inexperience. Attorneys for Elmore filed a petition [petition, PDF] for writ of certiorari with the court in January.