JUDGE'S ADDICTION WINS FELON AN APPEAL

An Arizona death row inmate is entitled to know whether the judge who
sentenced him was high on marijuana at the time, a federal appeals court
ruled Friday.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set aside the inmate's sentence,
saying hearings are needed on whether the judge's marijuana addiction
tainted the outcome.

The decision could affect hundreds of criminal cases tried before former
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Philip Marquardt, who was thrown off
the bench and disbarred for a marijuana conviction after a 20-year career.

The appeal involves Warren Summerlin, who was found guilty of first- degree
murder in 1981 and sentenced to death by Marquardt.

The Arizona Supreme Court and lower federal courts upheld Summerlin's
sentence. But a divided three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals reversed it and ordered hearings that could lead to a new trial for
Summerlin.

"Under the majority's ruling, every one of these individuals - and there
are no doubt hundreds of them - could petition to have their sentences set
aside," Judge Alex Kozinski wrote in his dissent.

Two other judges wrote that Summerlin had a "clearly established
constitutional right" to have his sentence determined by a judge who was
not acting under the influence of a mind-altering illegal drug.

Marquardt pleaded guilty in 1991 to marijuana possession after being
arrested in Texas. Marquardt, who at the time said he was suffering from an
addiction, has denied that he was impaired when deciding Summerlin's sentence.

Prosecutor Jessica Funkhouser said she didn't know drug use was an issue in
the appeal since Marquardt was arrested after Summerlin's trial.