Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Tag Archives: Habeas Corpus

Justices of US Supreme Court to consider limit of ineffective assistance ruling

In a case that could help establish the limits of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last term in Martinez v. Ryan, which established defendants’ narrow right to the effective assistance of counsel in a post-conviction proceeding, the Court has agreed to decide whether a state court procedural default prevents a federal habeas court from hearing a post-conviction ineffective assistance claim.

Read More »

High Court rules federal court erred in granting habeas corpus

A federal court erred in granting habeas corpus to a defendant where the state’s witness was unavailable, because under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act a federal court cannot overturn a state court’s decision that the state took reasonable steps to find a witness merely because the federal court identified additional steps that might have been taken.

Read More »

Police misconduct not grounds for new trial

Despite evidence that the police withheld exculpatory evidence and witnesses were not truthful at trial, a state prisoner convicted in 1994 of sexual assault and attempted homicide will not get a new trial.

Read More »

09-3940 Sussman v. Jenkins

Habeas Corpus Ineffective assistance The State of Wisconsin’s motion to stay the mandate is denied. “Harrington addresses the situation in which a state-court decision ‘is unaccompanied by an explanation.’ Here, the state appellate court issued an opinion and wrote: ‘We do not address whether counsel’s performance was deficient because we conclude that, even assuming deficient performance, Sussman cannot show prejudice.’ ...

Read More »

10-3318 Lavin v. Rednour

Habeas corpus Appointed counsel When an attorney believes that a claim not certified for appeal is arguable, counsel should move the court to expand the certificate to include the claim. “Counsel has no obligation to argue claims that are not certified for appeal. At least one court, if not two (as when this court has issued the certificate or has ...

Read More »

FORUM: Proposal to limit federal habeas corpus review of criminal convictions is wrong-headed and dangerous

In an editorial in the Sunday New York Times, April 17, 2011, entitled "Justice, Too Much and Too Expensive," two law professors from Indiana and Vanderbilt University present a radical proposal that federal court review of state court convictions under the writ of habeas corpus should be even more strictly limited than it currently is -- to just death penalty cases and cases in which the prisoner can produce persuasive new evidence of his or her innocence.

Read More »

09-3851 Price v. Thurmer

Habeas Corpus Ineffective assistance It was not unreasonable for Wisconsin courts to conclude that an expert witness would not have given different testimony if presented with all the facts. “We cannot say that it was ‘unreasonable’ for the Wisconsin court to infer from the evidence presented to it that Drom would not have changed his testimony had he read the ...

Read More »

09-3940 Sussman v. Jenkins

United States Court of Appeals CRIMINAL OPINION Habeas Corpus Confrontation Clause; ineffective assistance It was unreasonable for the state courts to conclude that a defendant charged with sexual assault of a child was not prejudiced by his attorney’s failure to introduce evidence that the complainant had previously made false accusations of sexual assault. “We agree that this evidence is probative ...

Read More »

09-3577 Jones v. Basinger

United States Court of Appeals CRIMINAL OPINIONS Habeas Corpus Confrontation Clause Where a state court judge admitted double hearsay against a defendant as substantive evidence to prove the defendants’ guilt, his federal habeas corpus petition should have been granted. “To think that any amount of instruction would enable a jury to disregard the damning substance of an out-of-court statement like ...

Read More »

Plea bargaining advice deficient

In January, the U.S. Supreme Court accepted review of a case to decide whether a state prisoner can obtain habeas corpus relief in federal court, after he went to trial because his attorney gave him deficient advice during plea bargaining. In the meantime, the 7th Circuit is assuming the answer is “yes.” On Monday, it held that a Wisconsin man ...

Read More »

09-1032 Kerr v. Thurmer

CRIMINAL OPINIONS Habeas Corpus Ineffective assistance; plea bargaining Where a state prisoner claims he would have accepted a plea agreement if his attorney had correctly conveyed it to him, and no evidentiary hearing was held, the district court should have held a hearing on the prisoner’s ineffective assistance claim. “When a petitioner fails to develop the factual basis of a ...

Read More »

09-868 Wall v. Kholi

Habeas Corpus AEDPA A motion to reduce a sentence under state law is an application for “collateral review” that triggers AEDPA’s tolling provision. The parties agree that the motion is not part of the direct review process, and both this Court and lower federal courts have described a motion to reduce sentence under old Federal Rule 35 as invoking a ...

Read More »

02-C-1123 Toliver v. McCaughtry

Habeas Corpus Ineffective assistance of counsel Where a defendant’s attorney had no strategic reason for not interviewing potential witnesses, his representation was deficient. “In this case, a review of the record shows that the petitioner’s trial counsel told the petitioner that he was not going to call Angeal Toliver to testify because ‘they wouldn’t believe her because she was the ...

Read More »

2010AP719 State ex rel. Shelton v. Smith

Habeas Corpus Sentence credit Christopher L. Shelton appeals from an order of the circuit court denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Shelton was convicted of two crimes and given consecutive sentences. Shelton argues that because he was unlawfully detained for 143 days after the mandatory release date of his first sentence, he should receive credit on his ...

Read More »

2010AP719 State ex rel. Shelton v. Smith

Habeas Corpus Sentence credit Christopher L. Shelton appeals from an order of the circuit court denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Shelton was convicted of two crimes and given consecutive sentences. Shelton argues that because he was unlawfully detained for 143 days after the mandatory release date of his first sentence, he should receive credit on his ...

Read More »

09-587 Harrington v. Richter

Habeas Corpus Standard of review 28 U.S.C. 2254(d) applies to a habeas corpus petition, even though the state court’s order was unaccompanied by an opinion explaining the court’s reasoning. By its terms, §2254(d) bars relitigation of a claim “adjudicated on the merits” in state court unless, among other exceptions, the earlier state-court “decision” involved “an unreasonable application” of “clearly established ...

Read More »

09-658 Premo v. Moore

Habeas Corpus Ineffective assistance of counsel Under 28 U. S. C. 2254(d), federal habeas relief may not be granted with respect to any claim a state court has adjudicated on the merits unless, among other exceptions, the state-court decision denying relief involves “an unreasonable application” of “clearly established Federal law, as determined by” this Court. The relevant federal law is ...

Read More »