Patrick S. Crick v. James Key, Superintendent, Airway Heights Corrections Center

This Court has well settled that use of "fabricated evidence" by a State "virtually" voids a criminal judgment ab initio. But what effect does the use of fabricated evidence have on the State’s finality interests? Or does an interest in "finality” outweigh the prejudice inherent to use of fabricated evidence?

This Court has held cause for untimeliness could be shown when post-conviction counsel was not merely negligent, but had abandoned representation without notice to the petitioner, thereby resulting in the loss of state remedies. But is some specific level of negligence required to meet this "abandonment" test, or can “garden variety” negligence be applied equally to every occurrence where a state or federal remedy is foreclosed by counsel's self-serving departure from representation without notice?