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Del Vecchio v. Illinois
Citation: 494 U.S. 1062Docket: 89-6123
Court: Supreme Court of the United States; April 2, 1990; Federal Supreme Court; Federal Appellate Court
Petitioner George DelVecchio sought a writ of certiorari from the Supreme Court of the United States regarding a decision from the Supreme Court of Illinois, which was ultimately denied. Justice Marshall, joined by Justice Brennan in dissent, reiterated his position that the death penalty constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. He expressed his intent to grant certiorari to vacate DelVecchio's death sentence, emphasizing concerns over the trial judge's impartiality. Marshall noted that the trial judge had previously prosecuted DelVecchio in a separate murder case from 1965, creating an appearance of bias that violated due process rights. He referenced Justice Clark's dissent, which detailed the trial judge's potential conflicts of interest and suggested that the Court had previously addressed bias primarily in cases involving direct financial interests or generalized hostility, but had not considered the broader implications of a judge's past involvement with a defendant. Marshall argued for a reevaluation of the grounds for perceived bias in judicial proceedings.