Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Jason M. Smith v. United States
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, No. 25-1458 · judgment January 13, 2026
(petition-stage, structural)
Roughly the 4.1% base rate. The model weights this up for a circuit split argued in the petition and a Second Circuit decision below.
Question presented
Petitioner presents the following question for review: Where a criminal defendant provides competent evidence that trial counsel omitted to raise a meritorious issue in suppression of evidence that, if raised, would have made acquittal reasonably probable, does § 2255 require the court to order an evidentiary hearing? When a Court of Appeals denies an application for certificate of appealability, is it obligated to explain the basis for its decision on sufficient detail to allow for meaningful appellate review?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Matthew Gilmartin
Matthew Gilmartin, Attorney at Law, LLC
For respondent
D. John Sauer
Solicitor General
Case
Subject area
Criminal Procedure (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)
Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference
Linked docket
26A79
Proceedings
- Oct 07 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/6/2026.
- Sep 30 2026Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
- Sep 21 2026Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 26, 2026)
- Jul 17 2026Application (26A79) granted by Justice Sotomayor extending the time to file until September 21, 2026.
- Jul 10 2026Application (26A79) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from July 21, 2026 to September 19, 2026, submitted to Justice Sotomayor.