The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of an Alabama man who claimed his attorneys failed to present key evidence of his borderline mental retardation. The justices said the defense made a strategic decision, not a negligent omission.

Holly Wood shot and killed his ex-girlfriend as she slept in her Troy, Ala., home in 1993. Wood lost his appeal in state court, but won habeas relief in federal court. The district court criticized the defense for putting an inexperienced attorney in charge of the penalty phase. According to the federal judge, the state court's holdings constituted "an unreasonable application of federal law."

It ordered the state to either resentence Wood to life without parole or conduct a new sentencing hearing.The Supreme Court upheld the 11th Circuit's reversal, saying it wasn't "unreasonable" to conclude that Wood's attorneys had made a strategic decision not to introduce evidence of Wood's mental deficiencies.
   
"Most of the evidence Wood highlights ... speaks not to whether counsel made a strategic decision, but rather to whether counsel's judgment was reasonable - a question we do not reach," Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the 7-2 majority.

The end was almost certainly worse than what Kwame Kilpatrick expected.

Grilled for six days on the witness stand -- his integrity questioned by prosecutors who said that if they couldn't send him to jail, they'd settle for $225,000 -- Kilpatrick's restitution hearing ended after four months Wednesday with a judge calling him a liar and demanding he cut a check for far more than even prosecutors expected.

"You have not been credible in this courtroom and you, again, have not been honest to the City of Detroit," Wayne County Circuit Judge David Groner told Kilpatrick, who sat stone-faced. "The court finds the defendant's conduct in this matter reprehensible."

Compounding the former mayor's woes was news that broke just as he arrived at court: His longtime friend and ex-mayoral aide, DeDan Milton, had been indicted on federal bribery and extortion charges, another indication the feds are tightening focus on Kilpatrick.

An embattled Texas judge who closed her court before a death-row inmate could file his final appeal should not lose her job or receive any further punishment beyond the "public humiliation" she has faced, a judge presiding over her ethics trial said in a report released Wednesday.

Judge Sharon Keller still faces five judicial misconduct charges for refusing to keep her court open past 5 p.m., and the state commission that will ultimately decide Keller's fate is not bound by the recommendations in Wednesday's report.

Former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said he’s joining the New York-based law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

Morgenthau, 90, left office last month after 34 years as New York City’s top prosecutor. At Wachtell, the firm known for advising Wall Street clients on merger advice, he will be of counsel, a non-partner position.

“I have long admired Wachtell Lipton for not only its outstanding reputation as a law firm, but also for its devotion to and support for advancing the law and the legal profession, education and service to New York and the nation,” Morgenthau said in a statement.

Morgenthau began his prosecutorial career when President John F. Kennedy appointed him U.S. Attorney in 1961. As district attorney he prosecuted money-laundering, securities-fraud and tax-evasion cases, including one against former Tyco International Ltd.’s former chief L. Dennis Kozlowski, who was convicted in 2005 of looting the company.

Wachtell has its sole office in New York. It advised Bank of America Corp. in its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co. in its purchase of Bear Stearns Cos. and Wells Fargo & Co. in its acquisition of Wachovia Corp. A co- founder, Martin Lipton, created the “poison-pill” takeover defense.

A judge is expected to rule how much ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick should be paying each month toward his $1 million court-ordered restitution to the city of Detroit.

Kilpatrick is required to appear in the afternoon hearing before Wayne County Circuit Court Judge David Groner.

Kilpatrick says he has lowered his restitution payments from $6,000 to $3,000 because his pay as a salesman for Dallas-based Covisint has decreased.

Prosecutors say he has been untruthful about his finances and want Groner to order Kilpatrick to pay a $225,000 lump sum. They also accuse him of violating his probation.

Groner has said he won't address the probation violation issue, which could land Kilpatrick back in jail where he spent 99 days as part of pleas in two criminal cases.

A federal court order to release 40,000 inmates to relieve prison crowding in California was delayed for up to a year on Tuesday, pending a final review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Justices turned down a challenge by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration to the court order that forces the state to reduce its prison population. The action opens the door for another appeal by the state.

A three-judge federal panel last summer ordered the state Department of Corrections to reduce the prison population by about 40,000 inmates over two years in order to provide inmates with a constitutional level of health care. At issue for the Schwarzenegger administration is whether the judicial panel exceeded its authority in ordering the release of inmates.

"The U.S. Supreme Court's decision today is a win for the state because it guarantees there will be no early release of prisoners while the three-judge panel's latest order is appealed," said Andrea Hoch, the governor's legal affairs secretary.