Thornell v. Jones

Robert Weaver, Weaver’s grandmother, and Weaver’s seven-year-old daughter Tisha were killed during an attempt to steal Weaver’s gun collection. Danny Lee Jones (defendant) was convicted of the murders. During sentencing, the trial court found three aggravating circumstances: (1) the commission of multiple murders, (2) that the crimes were motivated by pecuniary gain given the attempt to steal the gun collection, and (3) the fact that Tisha was only seven years old. The trial court found the following mitigating factors: (1) Jones’s long-standing issues with substance abuse, (2) the fact that the abuse may have been caused by genetics and head trauma, (3) that Jones was intoxicated at the time of the murders, and (4) that Jones was abused as a child. The court found that these mitigating circumstances did not outweigh the aggravating circumstances and sentenced Jones to death. Jones filed a postconviction motion claiming ineffective assistance of counsel in that his attorney did not hire an independent neuropsychologist. Jones asserted that he suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, mood disorder, and bipolar depressive disorder. The trial court denied Jones relief, as did the Arizona Supreme Court. Jones filed a petition for habeas corpus in federal district court. The district court denied the petition, finding that any new evidence did not materially alter the information that was given to the sentencing judge. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.