Sixth Circuit Grants Habeas Relief after Counsel Failed to Rise Change in Law Appeal

While defense lawyers aren’t usually required to predict a change in the law that may be coming down that affects their case, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held on August 20, 2020, that when that change in law is “clearly foreshadowed” that any competent lawyer would’ve seen it coming, counsel is…

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Habeas Petitions and Gap Delays

California and reasonable “Gap Delay” The California Supreme Court has finally given some guidance on how much “gap delay” is considered “reasonable” before a habeas petition is too late. That’s the time interval between habeas petitions when a state prisoner files a new petition to “appeal” the denial of a habeas petition. It’s a question…

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A Step Towards Limiting the Requirements for a Certificate of Appealability

Certificate of Appealability

Seeking a habeas corpus petition on the grounds that a defendant’s detention is unconstitutional is difficult. In order to appeal a denied habeas corpus petition, a defendant must obtain a certificate of appealability. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals took a step in the right direction to streamline this difficult process when it decided Illarramendi…

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A Rare Win for Habeas Corpus Petitioner

Habeas Corpus Petition

Habeas corpus, otherwise known as the Great Writ, is a way for the defendant to challenge his detention by the government as unlawful. Given that courts so rarely grant writs of habeas corpus, the petition is sometimes considered a last-ditch strategy to avoid serving a prison sentence. In fact, courts have issued habeas corpus writs…

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Supreme Court Case Roundup: Recent Criminal Cases

U.S. Supreme Court

In this week’s roundup, we’re going to take a look at the current state of the United States Supreme Court calendar, and get quick summaries of all of the criminal cases that are before the Court this term. But, before diving into the cases, here’s a little background on how the Court administers its cases.…

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Gamble v. United States on Double Jeopardy

Gamble v. United States, Double Jeopardy

On December 6, 2018, the U.S Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case of Gamble v. United States, No. 17-646. Because we covered the Gamble case in some detail last week, we thought it only fitting that we give you the blow-by-blow on how the oral argument went before the Court. A Little Background…

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