Hanna v. Bagley, No. 09-3360 (6th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this Case
In 1997, Hanna was an Ohio state inmate, 19 years into a life sentence for murder and aggravated murder when he attacked his new cellmate, Copas, in his sleep. Copas died from his injuries several days later. Although trial counsel suggested that Copas’ death was at least partially attributable to errors committed in his medical treatment, Hanna did not formally pursue an intervening cause defense. Convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to death, Hanna petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus, 28 U.S.C. 2254. The district court denied the petition. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, rejecting claims of Brady violations, challenges to jury instructions, claims of ineffective assistance, and a claim of failure to discover an ineligible juror.
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.