Ineffective Assistance of Counsel and Collateral Review

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Wesley Ira Purkey v. United States of America, et al.,

Case No.: 19-3318

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and BRENNAN and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel and Collateral Review

Accuracy and finality are both central goals of the judicial system, but there is an inherent conflict between them. Suppose later information comes to light in a criminal case, and that information reveals potential factual or constitutional errors in the original proceeding. Do we privilege accuracy and re-open the case, or do we privilege finality and leave the errors unexamined? And if we do permit a second look, is a third or fourth also proper? The case before us presents just such a question, and the stakes could not be higher. We must decide whether Wesley Purkey, who sits on federal death row at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, has run out of opportunities to challenge his conviction and death sentence for kidnapping and murder. Purkey urges that his proceedings up to now have been undermined by ineffective assistance of counsel, first at the trial level, and then on collateral review. The United States argues that Purkey already has had an opportunity to challenge the effectiveness of trial counsel and, under the governing statutes, he has come to the end of the line. The district court ruled for the government. We conclude that this is not one of those rare cases in which the defendant is entitled to another day in court, and so we affirm the district court’s judgment.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.