USA - California. The U.S. Supreme Court restored a death sentence for Fernando Belmontes

For the third time, the U.S. Supreme Court today reversed the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and restored a death sentence for Fernando Belmontes, who bludgeoned a young woman, Steacy McConnell, in 1981 to steal a stereo from her house. The justices, in a unanimous, unsigned opinion, rejected the notion that Belmontes should be spared because his lawyer had failed him by not presenting mitigating evidence about Belmontes' childhood. (See also 15/07/2003, 15/07/2005, 13/11/2006, 13/06/2008)