Ryan v. Gonzales, 10-930 (filed Jan. 18, 2011)
Questions presented:
Several years after Gonzales's counsel initiated federal habeas proceedings and
filed an exhaustive petition seeking relief, counsel asserted that Gonzales was
incompetent to communicate rationally and the proceedings should be indefinitely stayed
pending possible restoration of competency. Based on 18 U.S.C. § 3599(a)(2), the Ninth
Circuit agreed, even though Gonzales's claims were record-based or purely legal.
Did the Ninth Circuit err when it held that 18 U.S.C. § 3599(a)(2) -- which
provides that an indigent capital state inmate pursuing federal habeas relief "shall be
entitled to the appointment of one or more attorneys" -- impliedly entitles a death row
inmate to stay the federal habeas proceedings he initiated if he is not competent to assist
counsel?
Click here to view the warden's certiorari petition.
Click here to view the amicus brief by Utah, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, and Washington in support of the warden.
On May 31, 2011, the Supreme Court invited the Acting Solicitor General to file an amicus brief expressing the views of the United States.
Cook v. Arizona, 10-9742 (filed Jan. 26, 2011) (non-capital):
Questions presented:
In an Arizona capital case, a post conviction proceeding in the trial court is mandated by statute and criminal rule after
completion of the direct appeal. It is designated an integral part of the original prosecution. It is initiated by the Arizona
Supreme Court, without action by a capital defendant. That Court chooses and apppoints counsel for the post conviction
proceeding. If Petitioner claims that his counsel at trial or upon appeal were ineffective he can only assert such claims in the
post conviction proceeding.
The question presented is whether Petitioner is entitled under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to have effective post
conviction counsel to raise those claims, because that proceeding represents Petitioner's first review allowed by the Arizona
courts for such claims.
Click here to view Cook's certiorari petition. The same day the
petition was filed, Cook filed a motion for stay of execution. The stay motion was granted on April 4, 2011, pending a ruling on the
certiorari petition.
