procedural default

Issues

Gary Cone was convicted and sentenced to death in the Criminal Court of Shelby County, Tennessee, for the murder of two people. Subsequent to Cone’s direct appeal, the state made available documents that both supported Cone’s defense that he was a drug addict at the time of the killings and impeached the testimonies of several witnesses. Respondent Bell argues for the state that Cone is procedurally barred from raising his grounds for relief in a federal habeas corpus review, as state courts already rejected it and Cone failed to properly argue it in the state courts. Petitioner Cone, however, argues that there should not be a procedural bar in this case because he did not receive the new information until his second request for post-conviction review, so the courts erroneously found that his claim had been previously decided. He also argues that it is the federal court’s duty in federal habeas review to examine grounds for relief based on federal law.  The Supreme Court’s decision in this case could implicate the methods by which individuals convicted in state court can litigate their claims, both in state courts and upon federal habeas corpus review. Additionally, the Court’s decision could clarify the roles of state and federal courts in an area of law with implications for the federalist structure.

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This case presents the Supreme Court with the opportunity to determine whether the Martinez ruling, which held that ineffective assistance of counsel in a state habeas proceeding could provide cause to excuse the procedural default of a claim for ineffective assistance of trial counsel, extends to excuse the procedural default of a claim for ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. Davila argues that Martinez does so extend, since the Court’s reasoning in Martinez applies equally to claims for ineffective assistance of appellate counsel, and the practical consequences of extending Martinez would be limited. The state of Texas argues that the Court should refuse to extend Martinez, since the right to appellate counsel is not as vital as the right to trial counsel and allowing so-called “Davila” claims would unduly burden the court system.

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Carloyn Muncey was murdered on July 13, 1985 in Union County, Tennessee. Her badly beaten body was found the next day in a brush pile about one hundred yards from her house, and it appeared as though a strong blow to her head had killed her after a long struggle. That same day, two witnesses saw Paul House emerging from the area where Muncey’s body was discovered wiping his hands with a dark rag. Several witnesses, as well as House, gave conflicting statements as to where he was the night of the crime. Over the course of the investigation of the murder, FBI officials found blood on House’s jeans that they determined was Muncey’s blood, as well as semen on Muncey’s clothes that they determined was likely House’s. Based on this circumstantial evidence, a jury in Union County convicted House of first-degree murder and sentenced him to the death penalty based on three aggravating circumstances. During post-conviction relief proceedings in state and federal courts, House presented evidence that he was actually innocent of the crime. This new evidence included a confession from Muncey’s husband that he had murdered her, DNA evidence that it was not House’s semen on Muncey’s clothes, and evidence that the blood on his jeans was spilled onto his jeans after the autopsy on Muncey. None of the courts reviewing House’s case found his evidence sufficient to establish his actual innocence, however, and did not allow for review of his procedurally defaulted claims, such as ineffective assistance of counsel at trial, or to obtain relief from his conviction. The United States Supreme Court must now determine how much evidence an individual such as House must present to prove his actual innocence and overturn a jury’s conviction and death sentence, as well as how much evidence is necessary to establish House’s innocence so that a court can review his procedurally defaulted claims.

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Upon receiving a state-court-issued death sentence, petitioner Cory Maples submitted a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel in post-conviction proceedings and petitioned for an evidentiary hearing. The court clerk took no action when two of three deliveries giving notice that the petition had been denied were returned because two of Maples’s attorneys of record had left their firm. Shortly thereafter, the deadline to submit a federal habeas claim lapsed. Maples now argues that the court clerk’s failure to notify him that his petition for an evidentiary hearing was denied caused the default and violated his due process rights. Additionally, he argues that the actions of his attorneys also constitute an external cause entitling him to federal habeas review. Respondent, the Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections, argues that the clerk successfully notified one attorney of  record,  and that Supreme Court precedent places the risk of attorney error on the petitioner during the post-conviction phase. This decision could affect how much risk clients bear for poor attorney performance, and whether a court clerk’s failure to take additional steps to notify attorneys of record constitutes an external cause to the defendant and valid excuse for  procedural  default.

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Carlos Trevino was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death by a Texas jury in 1997. During sentencing, Trevino’s state-appointed trial counsel failed to introduce potentially mitigating evidence of Trevino’s history of extreme childhood abuse and neglect, which might have persuaded the jury to sentence him to life in prison instead of death. His state-appointed habeas corpus counsel also failed to uncover evidence of Trevino’s background, and therefore failed to realize that he might have a colorable ineffective assistance of counsel claim. This failure to assert the claim barred raising the claim on federal habeas corpus review. However, the U.S. Supreme Court in Martinez v. Ryan, No. 10-1001, slip op. at 15 (March 20, 2012), had recognized a narrow exception to the procedural default rule, whereby ineffective assistance of counsel in an initial-review collateral proceeding—here, the state habeas proceeding—may excuse such a default. In Martinez, Arizona made state habeas proceedings the exclusive forum for addressing ineffective assistance of counsel claims.Trevino argues that the Martinez exception should apply here because this case implicates the same equitable considerations in post-conviction systems similar to Arizona’s.  In response, Rick Thaler, Director of the Correctional Institutions Division at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, contends that Texas’s post-conviction system already provides fair opportunity for such claims to be heard, both in state habeas proceedings and on direct appeal, and thus the Martinez fairness concerns do not apply.  This decision may affect the legitimacy of the state post-conviction process and the balance of victims’ rights and the rights of capital inmates in the post-conviction setting.

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