Supreme Court rules death row inmate can argue for new trial in state court

The Supreme Court this week ruled in favor of an Arizona death row inmate who argued that he should be allowed to present a new case in state court after the jury that convicted him was uninformed that he would be ineligible for parole under a life sentence. 

John Montenegro Cruz had been convicted of murder in 2003. His attorneys at the time attempted to inform the jury that were he handed a life sentence, he would not be eligible for a parole. Yet the presiding judge would not allow the jury to learn that information. 

Cruz subsequently argued that he should be given a new trial under the auspices of the 1994 Supreme Court decision Simmons v. South Carolina, which held that death penalty defendants have a right to inform the jury of their ineligibility for parole if they are given a life sentence. 

The Supreme Court in this week's ruling sided in Cruz's favor, claiming that subsequent precedent has re-affirmed his trial rights under Simmons. 

The majority ruling directs that Cruz's case be "remanded for further proceedings."