Mason v. Mitchell, No. 11-4020 (6th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseIn 1994 an Ohio jury convicted Mason of aggravated murder, rape, and having a weapon while under disability; the court adopted a recommendation that Mason be sentenced to death. Mason’s conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal; state court collateral attack was unsuccessful. In 1999, Mason sought habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. 2254. The district court denied the petition. The Sixth Circuit granted a conditional writ to “result in the vacation of his death sentence unless the state of Ohio commences a new penalty-phase trial against him within 180 days from the date that the judgment in this matter becomes final.” On remand, the district court entered its own conditional writ recalculating the date on which the 180-day period began. The period set by the Sixth Circuit expired, and no retrial had commenced. Mason was subsequently removed from death row, and a new sentencing proceeding was scheduled. The district court rejected an argument that the state should be prevented from seeking the death penalty for failure to comply with the deadline. The Sixth Circuit modified, holding that the district court erred by recalculating the beginning of the 180-day period without authority, but that the state may, nonetheless, seek the death penalty at the penalty-phase retrial.
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