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Quinn Alexander Marez v. Kathleen Allison, Secretary, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 19-56127 · judgment November 20, 2020

Certiorari denied · June 14, 2021

Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

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

Question presented

May a federal court seeking to determine whether a state court decision was reasonable for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d) substitute its own reasons for denying the petition when the state court’s reasons were legally in error?
May a federal district court deny a petition for writ of habeas corpus without a hearing after the state court ignored state procedural requirements and denied a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to investigate a mental state defense in a homicide case, even though the Petitioner provided an expert’s declaration documenting the defendant’s post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from a prior sexual assault by the homicide victim?

For petitioner
Wesley A. Van Winkle

For respondent
Julie Ann Harris
Office of the Attorney General

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Jun 14 2021
Petition DENIED.
May 25 2021
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/10/2021.
May 17 2021
Waiver of right of respondent Kathleen Allison, Secretary, California Dept. of Correction and Rehabilitation (Respondent) to respond filed.
Apr 16 2021
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due May 26, 2021)