Darryl Holland v. Edward R. Donnelly, Superintendent, Wende Correctional Facility

We consider in this appeal of the denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, 28 U.S.C. § 2254, an equal protection challenge to New York’s sentencing procedures in N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law (“C.P.L.”) § 400.27. 1 Petitioner asserts that the procedures arbitrarily permit defendants for whom the death penalty is sought to be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole only by a unanimous jury (prohibiting a judge from imposing that punishment), while withholding a jury determination of the appropriateness of life without parole from defendants for whom the death penalty is not sought…