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Byron David Smith v. Jeff Titus, Warden

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, No. 18-2915 · judgment May 5, 2020

Certiorari denied · March 22, 2021
Pre-decision estimate: 2% cert probability

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

Question presented

The question presented by this petition is whether the Sixth Amendment’s public trial guarantee, within the review apparatus imposed by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA) applies (1) to all phases of a defendant’s criminal trial; or (2) only to pretrial suppression hearings and juror voir dire.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Steven Jay Meshbesher
Meshbesher & Associates

For respondent
Nicholas Andrew Hydukovich
Washington County Attorney's Office

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 5 conferences

Argument & decision

Decided March 22, 2021.

Proceedings

  1. Mar 22 2021
    Petition DENIED. Justice Sotomayor, dissenting from denial of certiorari. (Detached Opinion)
  2. Mar 15 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/19/2021.
  3. Mar 01 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/5/2021.
  4. Feb 22 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/26/2021.
  5. Feb 03 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/19/2021.
  6. Jan 14 2021
    Brief of respondent Jeff Titus, Warden in opposition filed.
  7. Dec 15 2020
    Response Requested. (Due January 14, 2021)
  8. Dec 09 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/8/2021.
  9. Nov 19 2020
    Waiver of right of respondent Jeff Titus, Warden to respond filed.
  10. Nov 16 2020
    Waiver of Byron Smith of right to respond not accepted for filing. (November 17, 2020)
  11. Nov 05 2020
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due December 10, 2020)