Page:Tim Shoop, Warden v. Danny Hill.pdf/1

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Cite as: 586 U. S. ___ (2019)
1

Per Curiam

Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the preliminary print of the United States Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

TIM SHOOP, WARDEN v. DANNY HILL
ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
No. 18–56. Decided January 7, 2019.

Per Curiam.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that respondent Danny Hill, who has been sentenced to death in Ohio, is entitled to habeas relief under 28 U. S. C. §2254(d)(1) because the decisions of the Ohio courts concluding that he is not intellectually disabled were contrary to Supreme Court precedent that was clearly established at the time in question. In reaching this decision, the Court of Appeals relied repeatedly and extensively on our decision in Moore v. Texas, 581 U. S. ___ (2017), which was not handed down until long after the state-court decisions.

The Court of Appeals’ reliance on Moore was plainly improper under §2254(d)(1), and we therefore vacate that decision and remand so that Hill’s claim regarding intellectual disability can be evaluated based solely on holdings of this Court that were clearly established at the relevant time.

I

In September 1985, 12-year old Raymond Fife set out on his bicycle for a friend’s home. When he did not arrive, his parents launched a search, and that evening his father found Raymond–naked, beaten, and burned–in a wooded field. Although alive, he had sustained horrific injuries