Ruling on testimony re: religious conversion [US SC] News
Ruling on testimony re: religious conversion [US SC]

Brown v. Payton, Supreme Court of the United States, March 22, 2005 [ruling reversing the Ninth Circuit's decision to order a new trial and holding that testimony regarding defendant's religious conversion may have been considered altogether insignificant for a jury in light of the brutality of crimes at issue]. Excerpt from the Court's opinion by Justice Kennedy:

Testimony about a religious conversion spanning one year and nine months may well have been considered altogether insignificant in light of the brutality of the crimes, the prior offenses, and a proclivity for committing violent acts against women.

Read the full text of the opinion here [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.