SCOTUS Hears Oral Arguments in Death Penalty Case

The central issue here is whether the criminal defendant was deprived of adequate legal counsel when his attorneys failed to raise his troubled childhood background during the sentencing phase of his conviction.

Kathy Swedlow, deputy director of the Innocence Project and assistant professor at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Mich., said the Supreme Court's decision in the case, No. 02-311, could have widespread ramifications because the issues are more common than some other highly publicized instances of alleged inadequate legal representation in death penalty cases.

"The drunk lawyers, the sleeping lawyers, are the exceptions," she said. "More often, the lawyers don't have the time or the resources or the training" to represent defendants in capital cases.