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Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

By: Derek Hawkins//July 5, 2017//

Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

By: Derek Hawkins//July 5, 2017//

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United States Supreme Court

Case Name: DAVILA v. DAVIS, DIRECTOR, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS DIVISION

Case No.: 16-6219

Focus: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

The ineffective assistance of postconviction counsel does not pro- vide cause to excuse the procedural default of ineffective-assistance- of-appellate-counsel claims.

In Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U. S. 722, this Court held that attorney error committed in the course of state postconviction proceedings—for which the Constitution does not guarantee the right to counsel—cannot supply cause to excuse a procedural default that occurs in those proceedings. Id., at 755. In Martinez, the Court announced an “equitable . . . qualification” of Coleman’s rule that applies where state law requires a claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel to be raised in an “initial-review collateral proceeding,” rather than on direct appeal. 566 U. S., at 16, 17. In those situations, “a procedural default will not bar a federal habeas court from hearing a substantial claim of ineffective assistance at trial if” the default results from the ineffective assistance of the prisoner’s counsel in the collateral proceeding. Id., at 17. The Court clarified in Trevino that Martinez’s exception also applies where the State’s “procedural framework, by reason of its design and operation, makes it unlikely in a typical case that a defendant will have a meaningful opportunity to raise” the claim on direct appeal. 569 U. S., at ___.

Affirmed

Dissenting: Breyer, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan

Concurring:

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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