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Gerald D. Fields v. Jay Forshey, Warden

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, No. 22-3031 · judgment August 8, 2023


Certiorari denied · April 15, 2024
Pre-decision estimate: 5% cert probability

Before the decision, roughly the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a circuit split argued in the petition, a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and a Sixth Circuit decision below, and down for a state or local-government respondent.

Questions presented

  1. When a state trial court fails to conduct a Faretta colloquy before sentencing a defendant without counsel—a fundamentally unfair structural error that would require automatic reversal—is appellate counsel ineffective for failing to raise the issue on direct appeal?

  2. When a habeas petitioner asserts ineffective assistance of counsel resulting in a fundamentally unfair structural error (such as deprivation of the right to counsel at sentencing), must that petitioner also demonstrate actual prejudice, even when doing so is inherently impossible?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Andrew Stuart Pollis
Milton and Charlotte Kramer Law Clinic Center

For respondent
Michael Jason Hendershot
Ohio Attorney General's Office

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Linked docket
23A558

Proceedings

  1. Apr 15 2024
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Mar 20 2024
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/12/2024.
  3. Mar 12 2024
    Waiver of right of respondent Jay Forshey to respond filed.
  4. Mar 04 2024
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due April 5, 2024)
  5. Dec 18 2023
    Application (23A558) granted by Justice Kavanaugh extending the time to file until March 3, 2024.
  6. Dec 14 2023
    Application (23A558) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from January 3, 2024 to March 3, 2024, submitted to Justice Kavanaugh.