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Capital Habeas Petitioner Gets Evidentiary Hearing on IAC Claim; Other Contentions Rejected

By Shari Allison

Wilson v. Sirmons, 2008 WL 3166975 (8/8/08) (Published) - Judge McConnell wrote an excellent opinion regarding ineffective assistance ("IA") of counsel in a capital case. But it was not joined in by any other judge. Judge Hartz concurred in the result remanding for an evidentiary hearing on the IA issue and Judge Tymkovich dissented. Judges McConnell and Hartz did agree on the standard of review. They held the review was de novo because the state appellate court denied the claim without considering the post-trial affidavits the petitioner submitted. Oklahoma law precludes an appellate court from considering evidence not presented at trial unless an evidentiary hearing is held in district court and no such hearing was held. Since the state court did not address the merits of the claim the petitioner raised in federal court, which included the affidavits, no deference was owed the state court's decision...continue to full post

Full post as published by Tenth Circuit Blog on August 12, 2008 (boomark / email).