Cain v. Brumfield

Issue: (1) Whether, in mental retardation evidentiary hearings, the federal district court committed clear error (a) in refusing to allow the state to introduce the trial court record, (b) in limiting the state’s presentation of evidence, (c) in failing to consider the facts of the crime as provided for in State v. Dunn III, (d) in failing to consider historical school records containing six mental health assessments/testing that did not diagnose mental retardation, and (e) in assessing credibility of witnesses; and (2) whether the federal appellate court erred in failing to conduct an independent review as to whether Brumfield proved by a preponderance of the evidence that he is mentally retarded based on the voluminous documentary evidence and the entirety of the record including the state court record.