Hensley v. Roden, No. 13-1147 (1st Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial in Massachusetts state court, Appellant was convicted of the first-degree murder of his estranged wife under both the theory of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) affirmed on appeal. Appellant subsequently filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the federal district court, alleging (1) his constitutional right to confrontation was violated when the testimony of the chief medical examiner in Massachusetts was admitted, and (2) his attorney provided ineffective assistance by failing to introduce certain mental health related evidence. The district court denied the petition. The First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, holding (1) the SJC’s rejection of Appellant’s Confrontation Clause argument was not contrary to governing Supreme Court precedent; and (2) the SJC did not unreasonably apply Strickland or commit clear factual error when it concluded that Appellant’s attorney’s performance was not deficient.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.