Supreme Court rules for female Oklahoma death row inmate over sex-shaming claim
The Supreme Court found an Oklahoma woman convicted of murdering her estranged husband can pursue a claim that prosecutors inappropriately focused on her sex life at trial.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court issued a rare ruling Tuesday in favor of a death row inmate, finding that an Oklahoma woman convicted of murdering her estranged husband can pursue a claim that prosecutors inappropriately focused on her sex life at trial.
Divided 7-2, the court opened the door to Brenda Andrew’s challenging her conviction and death sentence. She is the only woman on death row in Oklahoma.
The court ruled an appeals court was wrong to conclude that Andrew's claim that her due process rights were violated by the focus on her personal life, including treatment of her children, could not move forward.
The right to due process under the Constitution's 14th Amendment "forbids the introduction of evidence so unduly prejudicial as to render a criminal trial fundamentally unfair," the Supreme Court said in an unsigned opinion.
The case will return to the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for further litigation on Andrew's habeas corpus claim.
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