Pruitt v. Neal, No. 13-1880 (7th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseIn June 2001, Morgan County Deputy Starnes stopped Pruitt’s vehicle. Starnes called in Pruitt’s driver’s license and registration and was told that a recent robbery report suggested Pruitt might be in possession of stolen weapons. Pruitt emerged from his vehicle with a handgun, and the two exchanged gunfire. Starnes was struck by five shots. He underwent surgery, developed an infection, and died. The state charged Pruitt with murder, attempted murder (Pruitt also shot Deputy Starnes’s son, who was accompanying his father as part of a college internship), and related offenses. Indiana state courts affirmed his conviction and imposition of the death penalty. The federal district court denied habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. 2254. The Seventh Circuit reversed and remanded, finding Pruitt intellectually disabled and categorically and constitutionally ineligible for the death penalty. His trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to present evidence to support his claim of intellectual disability, by failing to investigate and present at the penalty phase mitigating evidence regarding his schizophrenia and its effects.
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