Roger Scott v. Charles Ryan

Roger Scott, an Arizona state prisoner sentenced to death, appeals the denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 , 2253, and we affirm.

On remand to the district court from a prior decision of this court, Scott was allowed to present several pieces of evidence he contended his counsel was ineffective for not presenting at his original sentencing hearing. Scott presented evidence that he had suffered four head injuries, and that these injuries affected his mental functions at the time of the murder. Scott seeks a remand to state court for a new sentencing hearing. We hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding that Scott was not prejudiced by his counsel’s failure to submit this additional evidence. We express no opinion as to whether counsel’s performance at sentencing was deficient.

I. Facts

Scott does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction; he challenges only his sentence on the ground of ineffective assistance of counsel. Accordingly, we rely on the facts found in the Arizona Supreme Court’s opinion. State v. Scott, 177…