On Point blog, page 2 of 3
Brady claim not “fairly presented” in state court, so it’s procedurally defaulted in federal habeas proceeding
Tony Thomas v. Tarry Williams, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 14-2610, 5/18/16
Thomas’s federal habeas petition argued the state withheld potentially exculpatory evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), but didn’t raise this claim in his state postconviction proceeding so he can’t raise it in his federal habeas petition.
No jury instruction error in state murder trial
Arthur Mitchell v. Donald Enloe, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 14-2946, 3/24/16
The Seventh Circuit rejects Mitchell’s claims that the lawyer representing him at his state murder was ineffective because he should have asked for a provocation instruction as well as a self-defense instruction, because the two defenses were inconsistent and the jury clearly rejected the testimony on which provocation would have been based.
Seventh Circuit cracks open a door for juveniles challenging non-mandatory, de facto life sentences
Bernard McKinley v. Kim Butler, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Case No. 14-1944, 1/4/16
McKinley failed to raise an Eighth Amendment claim in his state court challenges to the sentence he received for a murder he committed at the age of 16. That means he procedurally defaulted the claim for purposes of his federal habeas challenge to the sentence. But instead of affirming the district court’s dismissal of McKinley’s habeas petition, a majority of this Seventh Circuit panel stays the habeas proceeding and, based on reasoning that could be useful to other juveniles seeking to challenge long sentences, gives McKinley a chance to go back to state court to challenge his sentence under Miller v. Alabama, 132 S. Ct. 2455 (2012).
Habeas claims were waived due to failures to raise them at critical points in state court
Vernard Crockett v. Kim Butler, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Case No. 14-2320, 11/17/15
Crockett procedurally defaulted his insufficient evidence and confrontation clause claims by failing to preserve the claims at various stages of his direct appeals in state court.
Perjury by state’s witness gets habeas petitioner a new trial
Paysun Long v. Kim Butler, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Case No. 13-3327, 10/27/15
Long is entitled to habeas relief because the prosecutor in his state murder trial failed to correct perjured testimony given by a state’s witness.
Seventh Circuit rejects habeas claim, but cautions about improper use of “course of investigation” rationale for getting around hearsay objections
Renardo Carter v. Timothy Douma, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 13-3312, 8/6/15
Carter’s trial counsel failed to object to a police officer’s testimony about the hearsay statements of a confidential informant who said Carter was involved in drug dealing. While the Wisconsin Court of Appeals reasonably concluded that the failure to object didn’t prejudice Carter, the Seventh Circuit issues a useful warning about the improper use of the “course of investigation” rationale for admitting out-of-court statements.
State court reasonably rejected claim that defendant was denied the right to represent himself
Laderian McGhee v. Michael A. Dittmann, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 14-1763, 7/22/15
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals reasonably applied federal law in rejecting McGhee’s claim that he was denied the right to self-representation under Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975).
Prison’s denial of litigation loan didn’t excuse federal habeas procedural default
Steven D. Johnson v. Brian Foster, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 13-2008, 5/6/15
Johnson’s failure to file a petition for review in the Wisconsin Supreme Court means he failed to complete a full round of state-court review, which in turn means his federal habeas petition is barred under the doctrine of “procedural default.” This default could be excused if Johnson shows that prison officials interfered with his ability to comply with the state court’s procedural rules. Johnson argues the prison wrongful denied his request for a litigation loan under § 301.328(1m), and that should excuse his failure to petition the state supreme court for review. The court rejects the argument, holding the loan denial wasn’t an external impediment to Johnson filing a petition for review.
U.S. Supreme Court: habeas petitioner’s procedural default may be excused if state rules do not offer defendants meaningful opportunity to present IAC claim on direct appeal
Carlos Trevino v. Thaler, USSC No. 11-10189, 5/28/13
United States Supreme Court decision, vacating and remanding 449 Fed. Appx. 145 (5th Cir. Nov. 14, 2011)
Last term in Martinez v. Ryan, 132 S. Ct. 1309 (2012), a case arising out of Arizona, the Court held that where a state’s rules of appellate procedure allowed a state prisoner to raise an ineffective assistance of trial counsel claim only on collateral review,
Paul Eichwedel v. Chandler, 7th Cir No. 09-1031, 8/29/12
Habeas – Procedural Default Defense: Waiver by State
Procedural default (here, failure to perfect the appeal in state court, hence failure to exhaust the claim) is an affirmative defense which may be forfeited or waived by the State. The State expressly waived any failure-to-exhaust objection, hence the court proceeds to the merits.
Habeas – PLRA and Right to Access the Courts
During the course of litigating an otherwise unrelated 42 U.S.C.