McKinney v. Arizona – PJI files Amicus Brief

The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to consider whether current laws apply when reviewing old capital sentences. In the case of James McKinney, a case in which he should have been tried by a jury and received a judicial verdict instead, his attorneys are seeking justice. 

PJI’s Ben Cohen notes that McKinney is “one of the few defendants on death row in America sentenced to death by a judge, not a jury.” The case, which has serious mitigating factors, such as McKinney’s PTSD (which was not widely recognized when McKinney was originally tried) demands the review of a full jury. 

Read the amicus brief here.

Read more about the case in this Law360 Article.