⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Eleventh Circuit hears Leonard Maurice Drane's federal habeas appeal—a post-conviction challenge to a Georgia death sentence. In 1990, Renee Blackmon was killed after leaving with Drane and David Willis. A jury convicted Drane of murder and sentenced him to death; Willis received life. Drane says Willis killed her; the state points to witness testimony and Drane's role in hiding evidence. Years later, Willis said he acted alone, but Georgia courts found his account unlikely to change the verdict. Drane's lawyer will ask whether new evidence of innocence can itself justify federal relief without a separate constitutional error at trial. He also challenges the prosecutor's use of all nine peremptory strikes against women during jury selection. Such strikes remove prospective jurors without showing cause, but cannot be based on gender. The warden will defend the state rulings under federal habeas law's deferential standard.

Leonard Maurice Drane v. Warden, GDCP (No. 24-14053) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, argued September 23, 2026.