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REUTERS
WASHINGTON
LIBERAL US Supreme Court justices on Monday indicated support for a convicted murderer held on Alabama's death row who argued he had a right to an independent medical expert to assess his mental health and potentially help him avoid the death penalty.
The legal fight involving Alabama inmate James McWilliams assumed greater importance in the past week after two death row inmates who Arkansas plans to execute, Don Davis and Bruce Ward, had their cases put on holding pending the Supreme Court's decision regarding McWilliams, due by the end of June.
The nine justices heard a one-hour argument in an appeal brought by McWilliams, sentenced to death for raping, murdering and robbing a convenience store clerk in Tuscaloosa in 1984.
Based on questions asked by the justices, the four liberals could be joined by conservative Anthony Kennedy, the court's frequent swing vote, in siding with McWilliams. The court's other conservatives, including Donald Trump's newly seated appointee Neil Gorsuch, appeared more likely to vote against McWilliams.
At issue in his appeal is whether an indigent defendant like McWilliams during a trial in which his mental health is a pivotal matter is entitled to an expert witness independent of the prosecution. Such an independent expert witness possibly could offer mitigating evidence at his sentencing hearing as prosecutors pursue the death penalty.
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25/04/2017
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