Supreme Court Report

Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

Paul Alexander, aka David Paul Hayes v. United States

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 20-4059 · judgment February 4, 2021


Certiorari denied · October 12, 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.

Questions presented

  1. Is the Fourth Circuit in violation of Supreme Court precedent and in conflict with other circuits when, in conducting a harmless error review, it intentionally does not consider derivative evidence that was obtained as a result of the unconstitutional car search?

  2. Is the Fourth Circuit in violation of Supreme Court precedent and in conflict with other circuits when, in conducting a harmless error review, it assesses not the impact of the suppressed evidence on the jury, but rather assesses only the overall strength of the Government’s untainted evidence?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Christopher Justin Brown
The Law Office of C. Justin Brown

For respondent
Brian H. Fletcher
Acting Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Oct 12 2021
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Sep 22 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/8/2021.
  3. Sep 16 2021
    Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
  4. Sep 08 2021
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 12, 2021)