John Harvey Adamson v. James G. Ricketts

EUGENE A. WRIGHT, Circuit Judge:

In this death penalty appeal we are confronted by these issues: (1) was the error in the admission of certain evidence in the underlying trial a confrontation clause violation and, if so, was it harmful; (2) what is the standard of review in the district court and this court in passing on the sufficiency of the evidence; (3) is the death penalty as applied under Arizona law unconstitutional because it takes the aggravating circumstances question from the jury and places it before the judge; (4) is the Arizona heinous, cruel or depraved aggravating factor…