Monday's Decisions from the Ninth Circuit: Jon Sands at Ninth Circuit Blog posted a summary of the Ninth Circuit's decisions in U.S. v. Caruto, Woods v. Carey, and Miller v. Blackletter. Defendant's rights appeared to be the theme of the day. U.S. v. Caruto addressed whether a prosecutor could argue the omissions in a defendant's post-arrest statement before invoking her Miranda rights. The Ninth Circuit held the prosecutor could not. Miller v. Blackletter involved the denial of a defendant's request for a trial extension to search for another attorney. Yesterday's Ninth Circuit decision held the state court did not abuse its discretion in balancing the right to counsel against concerns of fairness and scheduling as set forth by Gonzalez-Lopez. Woods v. Carey addressed whether a second federal habeas petition filed while the first was still pending, should be treated as a "second or successive" petition, or a motion to amend the first petition. The district court had treated it as a "second or successive" petition, and dismissed it. The Ninth Circuit held that because the petition was filed pro se, the petition should be treated as as a motion to amend the pending petition.

Canadian on Death Row: Doug Berman at SL&P has this post on failed negotiations to commute the sentence of a Canadian on death row in Montana. "Some Canadian bloggers are apparently upset that weakened Canadian opposition to the death penalty led to this back-room clemency deal falling through. I am more troubled to hear that a state governor seriously considered a back-room clemency deal along these terms for a brutal double-killer that Montanta's state prosecutors and judges and juries thought should be executed for his crimes. (The press article notes that Smith 'brutally executed two Blackfeet Indian men — Thomas Running Rabbit and Harvey Mad Man — during a drunken road trip to Montana in 1982.')"

Ohio AG: WSJ Law Blog has this post on the status of the "Marc Dann mess."