United States v. Sampson, No. 17-6001 (1st Cir. 2022)
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The First Circuit dismissed as moot Gary Lee Sampson's appeal from his death sentence for murder and declined to exercise its equitable discretion to vacate the death sentence, holding that Sampson's convictions, life sentence, and death sentence remain intact.
Following a retrial, a unanimous jury sentenced Sampson to death for committing a murder. Sampson appealed. While his appeal was pending, Sampson died in prison. The First Circuit held (1) the parties correctly agree that Sampson's underlying convictions and life sentence cannot, as a matter of law, be vacated; and (2) as to the death sentence, the appeal was moot.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on February 23, 2022.
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