164
Opinion of Kennedy, J.
the time of the jury's death penalty deliberations, the jury should have been informed of that fact. We granted Ramdass' petition for certiorari and remanded the case for reconsideration in light of Simmons. Ramdass v. Virginia, 512 U. S. 1217 (1994).
On remand, the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed Ramdass' death sentence, concluding that Simmons applied only if Ramdass was ineligible for parole when the jury was considering his sentence. Ramdass v. Commonwealth, 248 Va. 518, 450 S. E. 2d 360 (1994). The court held that Ramdass was not parole ineligible when the jury considered his sentence because the Kayani murder conviction was not his third conviction for purposes of the three-strikes law. In a conclusion not challenged here, the court did not count the 1988 robbery conviction as one which qualified under the three-strikes provision. (It appears the crime did not involve use of a weapon.) The court also held the Domino's robbery did not count as a conviction because no final judgment had been entered on the verdict. Thus, the only conviction prior to the Kayani murder verdict counting as a strike at the time of the sentencing trial was for the Pizza Hut robbery. Unless the three-strikes law was operative, Ramdass was eligible for parole because, at the time of his trial, murder convicts became eligible for parole in 25 years. Va. Code Ann. § 53.1-151(C) (1993). Under state law, then, Ramdass was not parole ineligible at the time of sentencing; and the Virginia Supreme Court declined to apply Simmons to reverse Ramdass' sentence.
Ramdass filed a petition for a writ of certiorari contending that the Virginia Supreme Court misapplied Simmons, and we denied certiorari. Ramdass v. Virginia, 514 U. S. 1085 (1995). After an unsuccessful round of postconviction proceedings in Virginia courts, Ramdass sought habeas corpus relief in federal court. He argued once more that the Virginia Supreme Court erred in not applying Simmons. The District Court granted relief. 28 F. Supp. 2d 343 (ED Va.
Page: Index Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007