| Uttecht v. Brown | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued April 17, 2007 Decided June 4, 2007 | |
| Full case name | Jeffrey Uttecht, Superintendent, Washington State Penitentiary, Petitioner v. Cal Coburn Brown |
| Docket no. | 06-413 |
| Citations | 551 U.S. 1 (more) 127 S. Ct. 2218; 167 L. Ed. 2d 1014; 2007 U.S. LEXIS 6965; 75 U.S.L.W. 4373; 20 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 307 |
| Argument | Oral argument |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Defendant convicted and sentenced to death; affirmed, State v. Brown, 132 Wash. 2d 529, 940 P.2d 546 (1997); petition for habeas corpus denied, Brown v. Lambert, No. 01-cv-715C, 2004 WL 5331923 (W.D. Wash. Sept. 15, 2004); reversed, 451 F.3d 946 (9th Cir. 2006); cert. granted, 549 U.S. 1162 (2007). |
| Holding | |
| The Washington state judge who presided over the trial of Brown properly used his discretion to excuse a potential juror who expressed equivocal views about the death penalty. 451 F.3d 946, reversed and remanded. | |
| Court membership | |
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| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Kennedy, joined by Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Alito |
| Dissent | Stevens, joined by Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer |
| Dissent | Breyer, joined by Souter |
Uttecht v. Brown, 551 U.S. 1 (2007), was a case dealing with jury selection in capital cases in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that appeals courts must defer to a trial judge's decision on whether a potential juror would be able to overcome demur about capital punishment and be open to voting to impose a death sentence.