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Arthur Rodriguez Bautista v. Texas

Paid petition · Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, No. WR-88,492-01 · judgment June 5, 2019

Certiorari denied · November 12, 2019

Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

Petitioner filed a state application for habeas corpus relief from his state court murder conviction. Relief was sought on the basis of comments by the state trial judge during the course of trial demonstrating a bias in favor of the prosecution and a lack of impartiality. Petitioner further sought relief because he was denied the effective assistance of counsel at trial and on appeal due to multiple acts of deficient performance by counsel resulting in prejudice. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied the relief sought by Petitioner. The case therefore presents the following questions:

Whether the trial judge’s repeated improper comments throughout the trial demonstrated his bias in favor of the prosecution and denied Petitioner due process of law and a fair trial.
Whether Petitioner was denied the effective assistance of counsel at trial.
Whether Petitioner was denied the effective assistance of counsel on appeal.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Richard Ellsworth Wetzel
Law Office of Richard Wetzel

For respondent
—

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

Nov 12 2019
Petition DENIED.
Oct 23 2019
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/8/2019.
Sep 03 2019
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 7, 2019)