OCTOBER TERM 2011
Cases Decided
Cavazos v. Smith, 10-1115
- Reversing Grant of Habeas
- Per Curiam Summary Reversal; Ginsburg dissented (Sotomayor and Breyer joined)
- Holding: Ninth Circuit improperly concluded that there was insufficient evidence to establish that petitioner had caused the death of the victim
Cases Argued; Awaiting Decision
Maples v. Thomas, 10-63
- Status: Argued 10/4/11
- SCOTUSblog page
- Issue: Whether the Eleventh Circuit properly held--in conflict with the decisions of this Court and other courts--that there was no "cause" to excuse any procedural default where petitioner was blameless for the default, the State’s own conduct contributed to the default, and petitioner’s attorneys of record were no longer functioning as his agents at the time of any default.
Martinez v. Ryan, 10-1001
- Status: Argued 10/4/11
- SCOTUSblog page
- Issue: Whether a defendant in a state criminal case who is prohibited by state law from raising on direct appeal any claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, but who has a state-law right to raise such a claim in a first post-conviction proceeding, has a federal constitutional right to effective assistance of first post-conviction counsel specifically with respect to his ineffective-assistance-of-trial-counsel claim
Howes v . Fields, 10-680
- Status: Argued 10/4/11
- SCOTUSblog page
- Issue: Whether this Court’s clearly established precedent under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 holds that a prisoner is always "in custody" for purposes of Miranda any time that prisoner is isolated from the general prison population and questioned about conduct occurring outside the prison regardless of the surrounding circumstances.
Greene v. Fisher, 10-637
- Status: Argued 10/11/11
- SCOTUSblog page
- Issue: what is the temporal cutoff for whether a decision from the Supreme Court Court qualifies as “clearly established Federal law” under 2254(d)?
Lafler v. Cooper, 10-209
- Status: To be argued 10/31/11
- SCOTUSblog page
- Issues: (1) Whether a state habeas petitioner is entitled to relief when his counsel deficiently advises him to reject a favorable plea bargain but the defendant is later convicted and sentenced pursuant to a fair trial; (2) What remedy, if any, should be provided for ineffective assistance of counsel during plea bargain negotiations if the defendant was later convicted and sentenced pursuant to constitutionally adequate procedures?
Missouri v. Frye, 10-444 (front end case)
- Status: To be argued 10/31/11
- SCOTUSblog page
- Issues: (1) Can a defendant who validly pleads guilty assert a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel by alleging that, but for counsel's error in failing to communicate a plea offer, he would have pleaded guilty with more favorable terms? (2) What remedy, if any, should be provided for ineffective assistance of counsel during plea bargain negotiations if the defendant was later convicted and sentenced pursuant to constitutionally adequate procedures?
Perry v. New Hampshire, 10-8974 (front-end case)
- Status: Argued 11/2/11
- SCOTUSblog page
- Issue: Do the due process protections against unreliable identification evidence apply to all identifications made under suggestive circumstances or only when the suggestive circumstances were orchestrated by the police?
Gonzalez v. Thaler, 10-895
- Status: argued 11/2/11
- SCOTUSblog page
- Issue: (1) Was there jurisdiction to issue a certificate of appealability under 28 U.S.C. §2253(c) and to adjudicate petitioner’s appeal?; (2) Was the application for a writ of habeas corpus out of time under 28 U.S.C. §2244(d)(1) due to “the date on which the judgment became final by the conclusion of direct review or the expiration of the time for seeking such review”?
Cases Calendared
U.S. v. Jones, 10-1259 (front-end, 4th Amend. case)
- Status: To be argued 11/8/11
- SCOTUSblog page
- Issues: (1) Whether the warrantless use of a tracking device on petitioner's vehicle to monitor its movements on public streets violated the Fourth Amendment; and (2) whether the government violated respondent's Fourth Amendment rights by installing the GPS tracking device on his vehicle without a valid warrant and without his consent.
Smith v. Cain, 10-8145 (front-end case)
- Status: To be argued 11/8/11
- SCOTUSblog page
- Issues: (1) Whether there is a reasonable probability that the outcome of Smith’s trial would have been different but for Brady and Giglio/Napue errors; (2) whether the state courts violated the Due Process Clause by rejecting Smith’s Brady and Giglio/Napue claims.
Martel v. Clair, 10-1265
- Status:To be argued 12/6/11
- SCOTUSblog page
- Issue: Whether a condemned state prisoner in federal habeas corpus proceedings is entitled to replace his court-appointed counsel with another court appointed lawyer just because he expresses dissatisfaction and alleges that his counsel was failing to pursue potentially important evidence.
Williams v. Illinois, 10-8505 (front-end case)
- Status: To be argued 12/6/11
- SCOTUSblog page
- Issue: Whether a state rule of evidence allowing an expert witness to testify about the results of DNA testing performed by non-testifying analysts, where the defendant has no opportunity to confront the actual analysts, violates the Confrontation Clause.
Cases Waiting to Be Calendared
Wood v. Milyard, 10-9995
- Status: Cert. Granted 9/27/11
- SCOTUSblog page
- Issues: 1) Does an appellate court have the authority to raise sua sponte a 28 U.S.C. §2244(d) statute of limitations defense? 2) Does the State’s declaration before the district court that it “will not challenge, but [is] not conceding, the timeliness of Wood’s habeas petition,” amount to a deliberate waiver of any statute of limitations defense the State may have had?
Blueford v. Arkansas, 10-1320
- Status: Cert. Granted 10/11/11
- SCOTUSblog page
- Issues: Whether, if a jury deadlocks on a lesser-included offense, the Double Jeopardy Clause bars the reprosecution of a greater offense after a jury announces that it has voted against guilt on the greater offense.
