Chene Devonne Manley v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al.

Does the Due Process Clause of the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment entitle an applicant to a certificate of appealability regarding a state prisoner’s petition for writ of habeas corpus, where the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ denial of a certificate and its denial of reconsideration failed to address and correct the federal District Court’s (improper) denial of a claim for an evidentiary hearing and for subsequent resentencing, based on newly discovered evidence of a rare congenital condition (Chiari Malformation)1 with severe medical, emotional, behavioral, psychological, and neurological effects clearly material to a sentencing court’s determination of her level of personal culpability for the underlying criminal offense in deciding whether to impose a natural life sentence with no possibility of parole or a life sentence with possibility of parole after serving twenty-five (25) calendar years, where the condition was first discovered by a medical specialist long after sentencing but unquestionably existed at time of offense and sentencing? 1 Petitioner’s congenital neurological condition, called Chiari Malformation, was discovered long after sentencing when Petitioner was sent by the Arizona prison medical services provider for an MRI, as a diagnostic tool to investigate possible causes of Petitioner’s various symptoms and conditions. Chiari Malformation and its causes, effects, and treatment constitutes newly discovered material evidence that placed consideration of her personal and criminal history in a completely different light, given the stunning scope of implications arising from the condition.