Pennsylvania v. Blystone (majority)
Annotate this CaseIn this capital case, the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania held that Appellant Scott Wayne Blystone was entitled to receive a new sentencing hearing after concluding that his counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate and develop penalty-phase mitigating evidence in the form of institutional records and expert mental-health evidence. The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed, and Appellant the new penalty-phase hearing was pending following the completion of discovery. Throughout the course of counsel’s current mitigation investigation, Appellant’s mother, Norma Blystone, refused to divulge certain "critical" information regarding Appellant’s childhood unless she was assured that the information she provided would not be made public. In an attempt to provide Mrs. Blystone with such assurances and to obtain this additional information from her, Appellant filed a motion for limited courtroom closure and temporary sealing of transcripts with respect to Mrs. Blystone’s testimony, any expert testimony addressing the information Mrs. Blystone might reveal, and any closing arguments referencing such testimony. The trial court denied the motion, and Appellant filed an interlocutory appeal. After review, the Supreme Court concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to review the trial court’s interlocutory order denying Appellant’s closure motion, and, accordingly, this appeal was quashed.
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