Can a murder conviction which has been upheld in a state supreme court be taken to the US Supreme Court or must the crime originally have been a federal crime?

Answer 1

Yes, but the case can only be appealed to the US Supreme Court under certain circumstances. The case must involve a preserved federal question, meaning the defendant (if representing himself pro se) or his attorney(s) must have alleged the defendant's US Constitutional rights were infringed by something that occurred at some point in the process between investigation and sentencing, and must have raised the point at every appellate step taken. Alternately, the defense could question the constitutionality of the law under which the person was convicted, the sentencing guidelines used, or some other creative misapplication of the Constitution.

The offense committed need not have been a federal crime, but something significantly personally damaging and unconstitutional must have occurred to the defendant as a direct result of the investigation, arrest, interrogation, trial, sentencing, etc., in order to place the appeal under US Supreme Court appellate jurisdiction.

It's important to be aware that the US Supreme Court receives more than 10,000 petitions for writ of certiorari (requests for review) each year, but has resources to hear fewer than 1% of these cases. The Court has full discretion over its appellate jurisdiction, and only selects matters of national significance with broad applicability, and/or that are representative of issues that have caused conflicting constitutional interpretations/decisions in the lower courts, or can be used to clarify or individuate an earlier Court ruling.

If a case doesn't meet appropriate criteria and is denied cert, the decision of the state supreme court stands, and the case is considered res judicata (to have received final judgment and no longer be subject to appeal).