Supreme Court to Hear Death Row Case

By GINA HOLLAND,  

WASHINGTON  - The Supreme Court broadened its review of the death penalty Monday, agreeing to consider when death row inmates with bad lawyers deserve a second chance.

Justices will review the case of a man who claims he was unfairly sentenced after being convicted of drowning an elderly woman in her bathtub. The court could use the case of Maryland death row inmate Kevin Wiggins to clarify the threshold for ineffective counsel claims in capital cases.

 The subject of bad lawyering has bothered some court members in recent years, and two justices publicly criticized the quality of death penalty lawyers.

 As the court reviews the case, Maryland leaders have been reconsidering the death penalty. In this case, and others on that state's death row, the victim was white and the convicted killer was black.