Corcoran v. Neal, No. 13-1318 (7th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseIn 1997 Corcoran shot and killed four men at his Fort Wayne home. A jury convicted him of four counts of murder. The trial judge imposed a death sentence. After unsuccessful state court appeals, Corcoran sought federal habeas relief, arguing that the trial judge impermissibly relied on nonstatutory aggravating factors and failed to consider mitigating evidence when deciding whether to impose the death penalty. The district court rejected the claims. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The court noted the deference owed to state-court factual findings under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, 28 U.S.C. 2254(d)(2) and held that upheld the Indiana Supreme Court holding that the trial judge did not rely on nonstatutory aggravating factors. The state court reasonably determined that the trial judge considered all proffered evidence in mitigation: Corcoran’s age at the time of the crimes (22) and his good behavior in prison. The obligation to consider mitigating evidence in a capital case does not require that the evidence be credited or given any particular weight in the final sentencing decision.
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