Muhamed Pathe Bah v. United States

Courts in every federal district apply Rule 56 to 2255 motions; the application, however, is uneven. In the Second Circuit, the summary-judgment rules do not apply “in their entirety” in habeas proceedings, but in the Fourth and Sixth Circuits the summary-judgment rules apply as in civil cases. Here, a district court in the Fifth Circuit inverted the summary-judgment standard and placed the summary-judgment burden on the nonmovant. Petitioner asks this Court to use this case to define the relationship between Rule 56 and a motion brought under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. What duties, if any, does an attorney owe his client when counsel is aware the client is acutely mentally ill and that client instructs counsel not to investigate mitigation evidence?