Whitmore Ex Rel. Simmons v. Arkansas

495 U.S. 149, 110 S. Ct. 1717, 109 L. Ed. 2d 135, 1990 U.S. LEXIS 2182, 58 U.S.L.W. 3677
CourtSupreme Court of the United States
DecidedApril 24, 1990
Docket88-7146
StatusPublished
Cited by2,450 cases

This text of 495 U.S. 149 (Whitmore Ex Rel. Simmons v. Arkansas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of the United States primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Whitmore Ex Rel. Simmons v. Arkansas, 495 U.S. 149, 110 S. Ct. 1717, 109 L. Ed. 2d 135, 1990 U.S. LEXIS 2182, 58 U.S.L.W. 3677 (1990).

Opinions

Chief Justice Rehnquist

delivered the opinion of the Court.

This case presents the question whether a third party has standing to challenge the validity of a death sentence imposed on a capital defendant who has elected to forgo his right of appeal to the State Supreme Court. Petitioner Jonas Whitmore contends that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments prevent the State of Arkansas from carrying out the death sentence imposed on Ronald Gene Simmons without first conducting a mandatory appellate review of Simmons’ conviction and sentence. We hold that petitioner lacks standing, and therefore dismiss the writ of certiorari.

I

On December 28, 1987, Ronald Gene Simmons shot and killed two people and wounded three others in the course of a rampage through the town of Russellville, Arkansas. After police apprehended Simmons, they searched his home in nearby Dover, Arkansas, and discovered the bodies of 14 members of Simmons’ family, all of whom had been murdered. The State filed two sets of criminal charges against [152]*152Simmons, one based on the two Russellville murders and the other covering the deaths of his family members.

Simmons was first tried for the Russellville crimes, and a jury convicted him of capital murder and sentenced him to death. After being sentenced, Simmons made this statement under oath: “T, Ronald Gene Simmons, Sr., want it to be known that it is my wish and my desire that absolutely no action by anybody be taken to appeal or in any way change this sentence. It is further respectfully requested that this sentence be carried out expeditiously.’ ” See Franz v. State, 296 Ark. 181, 183, 754 S. W. 2d 839, 840 (1988). The trial court conducted a hearing concerning Simmons’ competence to waive further proceedings, and concluded that his decision was knowing and intelligent.

As Simmons’ execution date approached Louis J. Franz, a Catholic priest who counsels inmates at the Arkansas Department of Corrections, petitioned the Supreme Court of Arkansas for permission to proceed as Simmons’ “next friend” and to prosecute an appeal on his behalf. The court held that Franz did not have standing as “next friend,” because he had not alleged facts showing that he had ever met Simmons, much less that he had a close relationship with the defendant. It also rejected both his argument for standing under the Arkansas Constitution as an aggrieved taxpayer and his assertion that he should have standing as a concerned citizen to prevent an important legal issue from going unresolved at the appellate level.

In dicta, the court went on to state that Arkansas law does not require a mandatory appeal in all death penalty cases. It did note, however, that a defendant sentenced to death in Arkansas will be able to forgo his direct appeal “only if he has been judicially determined to have the capacity to understand the choice between life and death and to knowingly and intelligently waive any and all rights to appeal his sentence.” Id., at 189, 754 S. W. 2d, at 843. After reviewing the record of the trial court’s competency hearing, the Supreme Court [153]*153held that Simmons had made a knowing and intelligent waiver of his right to appeal. Franz and another Arkansas death row inmate, Darrel Wayne Hill, then applied in Federal District Court for a writ of habeas corpus to prevent Simmons’ execution, but the petition was denied on the ground that Franz and Hill did not have standing. Franz v. Lockhart, 700 F. Supp. 1005 (ED Ark. 1988), appeal pending, No. 89-1485EA (CA8).

The State subsequently tried Simmons for the murder of his 14 family members, and on February 10, 1989, a jury convicted him of capital murder and imposed a sentence of death by lethal injection. Simmons again notified the trial court of his desire to waive his right to direct appeal, and after a hearing, the court found Simmons competent to do so. The Supreme Court of Arkansas, pursuant to the rule established in Franz, reviewed the competency determination and affirmed the trial court’s decision that Simmons had knowingly and intelligently waived his right to appeal. Simmons v. State, 298 Ark. 193, 766 S. W. 2d 422 (1989). The court commended the trial court and Simmons’ counsel for doing “an exceptional job in examining and exploring [Simmons’] capacity to understand the choice between life and death and his ability to know and to intelligently waive any and all right he might have in an appeal of his sentence.” Id., at 194, 766 S. W. 2d, at 423. The court also noted that Simmons’ counsel “thoroughly discussed seven possible points that could be argued for reversal on appeal” and that Simmons acknowledged those points but “rejected all encouragement and suggestions to appeal.” Ibid.

Three days later, petitioner Jonas Whitmore, another death row inmate in Arkansas, sought permission from the Supreme Court of Arkansas to intervene in Simmons’ proceeding both individually and “as next friend of Ronald Gene Simmons.” The court concluded that Whitmore had failed to show he had standing to intervene, and it denied the motion. Simmons v. State, 298 Ark. 255, 766 S. W. 2d 423 (1989). [154]*154Whitmore then asked this Court to stay Simmons’ execution, which was scheduled for March 16, 1989. We granted a stay pending the filing and disposition of a petition for certiorari, 489 U. S. 1073 (1989), and later granted Whitmore’s petition for certiorari. 492 U. S. 917 (1989).

II

A

This is not the first time we have encountered a third party seeking to prevent the execution of a capital defendant who has decided to forgo further judicial proceedings. In Gilmore v. Utah, 429 U. S. 1012 (1976), we considered an application for a stay of the execution of Gary Mark Gilmore, filed by his mother Bessie Gilmore after the defendant declined to request relief. A majority of the Court concluded that Gilmore had made a knowing and intelligent waiver of any federal rights available to him and, accordingly, allowed the execution to go forward. Four Members of the Court, however, felt that the standing and other constitutional issues raised by the application were substantial and would have given the matter plenary consideration. Since Gilmore, we have been presented with other applications from third parties for stays of execution, see Lenhard v. Wolff, 443 U. S. 1306, stay of execution denied, 444 U. S. 807 (1979); Evans v. Bennett, 440 U. S. 1301, stay of execution denied, 440 U. S. 987 (1979), but until the present case, we have not requested full briefing and argument and issued an opinion of the Court on this recurring issue.

Petitioner Whitmore asks this Court to hold that despite Simmons’ failure to appeal, the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments require the State of Arkansas to conduct an appellate review of his conviction and sentence before it can proceed to execute him. It is well established, however, that before a federal court can consider the merits of a legal claim, the person seeking to invoke the jurisdiction of the court must establish the requisite standing to sue. Article III, of course, [155]*155gives the federal courts jurisdiction over only “cases and controversies,” and the doctrine of standing serves to identify those disputes which are appropriately resolved through the judicial process. See Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church & State, Inc., 454 U. S.

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495 U.S. 149, 110 S. Ct. 1717, 109 L. Ed. 2d 135, 1990 U.S. LEXIS 2182, 58 U.S.L.W. 3677, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/whitmore-ex-rel-simmons-v-arkansas-scotus-1990.