PHILLIP L. JONES v. TIM SHOOP, Warden - Articles

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PHILLIP L. JONES v. TIM SHOOP, Warden

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Apr 23, 2026

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ARGUED: Joseph E. Wilhelm, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellant.

Attorneys 2: ARGUED: Brenda S. Leikala, OFFICE OF THE OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellee.

Attorneys 3: ON BRIEF: Joseph E. Wilhelm, Matthew Gay, Jillian S. Davis, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellant.

Attorneys 4: ON BRIEF: Brenda S. Leikala, OFFICE OF THE OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellee.

Judge(s): GIBBONS, GRIFFIN, and THAPAR, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio at Akron

JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge. Petitioner Phillip L. Jones, an Ohio prisoner sentenced to death, appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. Jones makes three arguments on appeal: first, that the trial court violated his Confrontation Clause rights by allowing two witnesses to testify to out-of-court statements made by his wife; second, that his trial counsel were ineffective by not presenting testimony from a forensic expert to counter the state’s expert during the guilt phase; and third, that his counsel were ineffective during the penalty phase of trial. For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the judgment of the district court and deny Jones’s petition for writ of habeas corpus.

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