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Lee E. Stephens, Jr. v. Carolyn J. Scruggs, Secretary, Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 20-7776 · judgment December 16, 2022


Certiorari denied · October 30, 2023
Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

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

Questions presented

  1. Whether reasonable jurists could debate whether habeas relief and resentencing is required when a defendant’s sentence was premised on prior convictions and a sentence that were later found unconstitutional and vacated?

  2. Whether reasonable jurists could debate whether Stephens’s counsel were ineffective in failing to challenge his prior unconstitutional convictions and sentence?

  3. Whether reasonable jurists could debate whether Stephens’s right to testify was violated because he relinquished that right under the misapprehension that he could be impeached with his prior unconstitutional convictions? (i)

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Isley Markman Gostin
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP

For respondent
Jeremy Hugh Welter
Office of the Attorney General of Maryland

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Linked docket
22A1067

Proceedings

  1. Oct 30 2023
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Oct 04 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/27/2023.
  3. Oct 02 2023
    Waiver of right of respondent Stephen T. Moyer, et al. to respond filed.
  4. Sep 22 2023
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 26, 2023)
  5. Sep 11 2023
    Application of Lee E. Stephens, Jr. for a further extension of time not accepted for filing. (September 14, 2023)
  6. Jun 13 2023
    Application (22A1067) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until September 22, 2023.
  7. Jun 07 2023
    Application (22A1067) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from July 24, 2023 to September 22, 2023, submitted to The Chief Justice.