Mootness

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Dentrell Brown v. Frank Vanihel

Case No.: 20-2473; 20-2474

Officials: SYKES, Chief Judge, and KANNE and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Mootness

Petitioner Dentrell Brown was convicted of murder in an Indiana state court. His trial lawyer failed to object to a serious violation of his constitutional right to confront witnesses against him. The federal district court granted Brown a conditional writ of habeas corpus, and both sides appealed. The State appealed to try to reverse the writ; petitioner Brown cross-appealed seeking an order barring any retrial. While these appeals were pending, the State complied with the writ, resulting in a state court order vacating the original judgment of conviction. Brown has moved to dismiss the State’s appeal and, if we grant dismissal, to dismiss his cross-appeal. We conclude that the state court’s vacatur of the conviction ended this court’s jurisdiction under both 28 U.S.C. § 2254 and Article III of the United States Constitution. We dismiss the State’s appeal as moot and dismiss Brown’s cross-appeal upon his motion.

No. 20-2474, is DISMISSED as moot. No. 20-2473, is GRANTED. Brown’s motion to file a special appendix in No. 20-2474 is DENIED.

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Derek A Hawkins is Corporate Counsel, at Salesforce.