Bryson was convicted of the 1988 beating death of Mr. Plantz. Bryson was engaged in a sexual affair with Mrs. Plantz at the time of Mr. Plantz's death. At the time they had begun their affair, Bryson was sixteen and Mrs. Plantz was in her late twenties.

Bryson was tried and sentenced to the death penalty by an Oklahoma jury. He exhausted his appeals at law through both the state and federal systems. He was denied post conviction relief through all courts and this case is an appeal of the Federal District Court denial of writ of habeas corpus.

In this appeal of the Federal District Court's denial of habeas corpus, Bryson contended that the trial court had erred in not finding reversible error in the trial court's refusal to admit into evidence at the sentencing procedure a videotape of a confession he gave to police shortly after the murder. Bryson believed the video was mitigating evidence of a constitutional magnitude, that would require relief from the federal court.

The defendant theorized that the videotape would have shown his remorse, demeanor and state of mind, along with his relationship to Mrs. Plantz and that the victim was an abuser, part of his motivation for the murder. Both the state and federal lower courts found failure to admit the tape was error of a constitutional level, but that the error was harmless, not entitling Bryson to relief.

The Federal Court of Appeals concluded that exclusion of the tape did not have a "substantial and injurious effect in determining the juries verdict." The Court held that the tape did not show remorse and that facts concerning his relationship with Mrs. Plantz, the alleged abuse of Mrs. Plantz, were already present in the record of the sentencing proceeding. Admission of the videotape would have been cumulative evidence, and although it was error to not admit it, because of its cumulative nature, the error was harmless. Habeas corpus relief was not granted.