Smith v. Utah

1. Whether the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of the right to the effective assistance of counsel is violated when trial counsel fails to investigate and present evidence that the defendant did not commit the murders for which he was sentenced to death. 2. Whether the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment is violated by the execution of a person who is actually innocent of the crime for which he was sentenced to death. 3. Whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is violated when a state court refuses to consider evidence of actual innocence in a post-conviction proceeding.