Cases

OPINION ROGERS, Circuit Judge. Heck Van Tran, a Tennessee prisoner under sentence of death, appeals the district court’s judgment denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Van Tran raised twenty-six claims in his original habeas petition. The district court and this court have certified three claims for this appeal: (1)

DUFFY, Circuit Judge. James Dukes was convicted in the Criminal Court of Cook County, Illinois, of the crime of murder. The proof showed he shot John Blyth, a Chicago police officer. The jury fixed his punishment at death. On appeal, the judgment was reversed and remanded for a new trial because of prejudicial argument by a State’s Attorney. People v. Dukes, 12 Ill.2d 334, 146 N

OPINION Opinion by Justice Moseley A Gregg County jury found Brendan Xavier Douglas guilty of the May 15, 2012, capital murder of Deandre Rossum, and the trial court sentenced him to the mandatory punishment of life imprisonment without parole. 1 In his appeal to this Court, Douglas asserts that th

Katz, J. This is an appeal from the decision of the habeas court granting the petitioner, David Leroy Copas, a new trial on the basis that he had received ineffective assistance of counsel at the time he pleaded guilty to murder and that, but for defense counsel’s deficient performance, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Because the habeas court denied the state certification to appeal, we must first decide w

VANCE, Circuit Judge: On pleas of guilty petitioner was convicted in the state courts of Alabama in 1971 of four counts of robbery and one of rape. He received five consecutive life sentences. At the time of his conviction each of the charges carried a maximum penalty of death. Petitioner was represented by two court-appointed attor

161 F.Supp.2d 452 (2001) Arnold HOLLOWAY, Petitioner, v. Martin HORN, Commissioner, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, and Donald Vaughn, Superintendent, State Correctional Institution at Graterford, Respondents. No. CIV.A. 00-CV-1757. United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania. August 27, 2001. *453

187 F.Supp.2d 260 (2002) Alan PURSELL, Petitioner, v. Martin HORN, Commissioner, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections; Philip L. Johnson, Superintendent of the State Correctional Institution at Pittsburgh, and Joseph P. Mazurkiewicz, Superintendent of the State Correctional Institution at Rockview, Respondents. Civil Action No. 99-174 E. United States District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania.

AINSWORTH, Circuit Judge: On December 18, 1959, Perry Goodwin pled guilty in the Superior Court of Muscogee County, Georgia, to six counts of forgery and ten counts of “fictitious writing.” He was sentenced to an aggregate of fifteen years’ imprisonment. After having served part of his sentence in the Georgia State Penitentiary, Goodwin escaped. He was apprehended in another s

453 F.Supp. 977 (1978) Bobby Wayne MENDENHALL, Petitioner v. Joe S. HOPPER, Warden, Georgia State Prison, Respondent. No. CV476-335. United States District Court, S. D. Georgia, Savannah Division. May 9, 1978. *978 Edward T. M. Garland, Atlanta, Ga. (Garland, Nuckolls, Kadish, Cook & Weisensee, P. C.), Atlanta, Ga., Gerald Al

SIMPSON, Circuit Judge: Marvin Farmer appeals from the district court’s decision denying habeas corpus relief under Title 28 U.S.C. Section 2254. We affirm. The petitioner-appellant is a Georgia State Prison system inmate. He was arrested on May 25, 1969 and indicted for rape, burglary and assault with intent to

351 F.Supp. 1101 (1972) Robert Steven MOSHER, Petitioner, v. J. Edwin LaVALLEE, Superintendent, Clinton Correctional Facility, Dannemora, New York, Respondent. No. 71 Civ. 707. United States District Court, S. D. New York. December 7, 1972. *1102 *1103 Michael Meltsner, New York City, for peti

WILLIAM E. MILLER, Circuit Judge. James Earl Ray plead guilty on March 10, 1969, in a Tennessee criminal court to the charge of first degree murder in the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was sentenced to prison for a term of 99 years. Subsequently, after state remedies were denied without an evidentiary hearing, he petitioned the court below for a writ of habeas corpus, alleging certain constitutional violation

JOHN R. BROWN, Chief Judge: The State of Georgia on behalf of respondent Balcom, Superintendent of the Montgomery Correctional Institution, appeals from the District Court’s grant of habeas relief to petitioner-appellee Mason, a state prisoner, who pleaded guilty in state court to charges of robbery and burglary. The State’s chief contentions on appeal are that the District Court abused its discretion in not according the fi

SPRECHER, Circuit Judge. The State of Illinois, respondent-appellant, appeals from an order granting petitioner-appellee a writ of habeas corpus. We consider in this appeal one of the two issues upon which the decision of the district court is based: whether petitioner was so misadvised by trial counsel regarding the consequences of his guilty plea that the plea must be invalidated because unintelligently given under the sta

CLARK, Circuit Judge: William Lee received a fifteen year prison sentence after his attorney, in Lee’s presence and with his tacit approv *459 al, entered pleas of guilty to indictments charging tw.o counts of rape. Three years later Lee initiated habeas corpus proceedings in the Georgia state court

445 F.2d 1228 Robert L. HUNT (Alias Donald Adams), Petitioner-Appellant,v.STATE OF GEORGIA, S. Lamont Smith, Warden, Georgia State Prison, Respondent-Appellee. No. 29992. United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. July 21, 1971. Rehearing Denied October 18, 1971. C. Ronald Ellington (Co

J. JOSEPH SMITH, Circuit Judge (with whom WATEEMAN, IEVING E. KAUFMAN, HAYS, ANDEESON and FEINBEEG, Circuit Judges, concur): I. United States ex rel. Ross v. McMann is an appeal from a dismissal without hearing of an application by a state prisoner for writ of habeas corpus in the District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Walter Bruchhausen, Judge. Eelator, confine

GOLDBERG, Circuit Judge, concurring specially: I concur in the result reached by the majority. I agree that the district court violated recent declarations of the Supreme Court when it granted the writ on the basis of deprivation of counsel at a critical stage prior to the plea, notwithstanding appointment of counsel the morning of the plea’s entry. Accordingly, I also agree in the decision to vacate th

403 F.Supp. 1381 (1975) UNITED STATES of America ex rel. William SMITH v. Robert L. JOHNSON, Superintendent, and District Attorney of Philadelphia. Civ. A. No. 73-2666. United States District Court, E. D. Pennsylvania. November 24, 1975. *1382 *1383 Arthur L. Pressman, Philadelphia, Pa., for r

RONEY, Chief Judge: This is an appeal from the denial of a writ of habeas corpus in a capital case, the tragic facts of which have been referred to as “unusual and bizarre.” Knight v. State, 394 So.2d 997, 999 (Fla.1981). On July 17, 1974, Askari Abdullah Muhammad, formerly known as Thomas Knight, abducted Sydney Gans, a wealthy Miami business man on his way to work, forced him to return to his home and held his wif