Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Greg Skipper, Warden v. Curtis Jerome Byrd
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, No. 18-2021 · judgment October 8, 2019
Before the decision, about 1.9× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a state or local-government petitioner, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition).
Question presented
In Lafler v. Cooper, 566 U.S. 156 (2012), the Court held that a defendant has the right to effective assistance of counsel in considering whether to accept a plea offer—even if the defendant was later convicted after a fair trial. The Lafler Court cautioned, however, that this right exists only “[i]f a plea bargain has been offered . . . . If no plea offer is made, . . . the issue raised here simply does not arise.” Id. at 168 (emphasis added). The Sixth Circuit, with one judge strongly dissenting, nonetheless held here that the prisoner, who was convicted after a fair trial, was denied his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel because his counsel failed to pursue plea negotiations— that is, where no “plea offer [was] made.” Id. The court declined to explain how the state courts, in remedying this purported constitutional violation, could determine what hypothetical plea offer he would have received and whether a state court would have accepted the hypothetical plea offer. The question presented is: Does the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel include the right to a plea offer that was never made?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Fadwa A. Hammoud
Michigan Department of Attorney General
For respondent
Elizabeth L. Jacobs
Proceedings
- May 26 2020Petition DENIED.
- May 05 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/21/2020.
- Apr 30 2020Reply of petitioner Greg Skipper, Warden filed. (Distributed)
- Apr 20 2020Motion to delay distribution of the petition for a writ certiorari until May 5, 2020, granted.
- Apr 17 2020Motion of petitioner to delay distribution of the petition for a writ of certiorari under Rule 15.5 from April 22, 2020 to May 5, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
- Apr 07 2020Brief of respondent Curtis Jerome Byrd in opposition filed.
- Apr 07 2020Brief of Curtis Jerome Byrd in opposition not accepted for filing. (April 28, 2020)(Duplicate submission)
- Mar 05 2020Brief amici curiae of States of Ohio, et al. filed.
- Feb 25 2020Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including April 8, 2020.
- Feb 20 2020Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 9, 2020 to April 8, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
- Feb 17 2020Blanket Consent filed by Respondent, Curtis Jerome Byrd.
- Feb 05 2020Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 9, 2020)
- Dec 18 2019Application (19A689) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from January 6, 2020 to February 5, 2020, submitted to Justice Sotomayor.
- Dec 18 2019Application (19A689) granted by Justice Sotomayor extending the time to file until February 5, 2020.