DUANE EDWARD BUCK, PETITIONER v. LORIE DAVIS, DIRECTOR, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Supreme Court of the United States, Roberts, Feb. 22, 2017,
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel- Deficient and prejudicial where Defense presented an “expert” at sentencing who testified that the defendant was more likely to be violent because he was black.
(Dissent- Thomas and Alito- COA should not have been granted; also, Strickland prejudice was not shown)
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JAMES A. CALHOUN-EL v. STATE OF MARYLAND
Court of Special Appeals, Dec. 21, 2016, Graeff,
Post-Conviction – Unger – In a trial where the jury was advised that they were bound by constitutional instructions but were the judges of law for specific offenses, the Defendant waived his challenge by not objecting
WILLIAM TODD JAMISON v. STATE OF MARYLAND
Court of Appeals, Battaglia, Nov. 15, 2016,
DNA Post-Conviction – A person who has pled guilty via an Alford plea cannot avail himself of post-conviction DNA testing under CP 8-201.
(Concur- McDonald, joined by Barbera – An Alford plea is not a guilty plea, but would affirm based on the trial court finding that the DNA results were not favorable)
STATE OF MARYLAND v. JAMES LESLIE ADAMS-BEY, JR.
Court of Appeals, Barbera, August 25, 2016
UPPA – Anyone that files a “proper” postconviction or motion to reopen postconviction is “entitle[d] to a new trial” if their trial involved “advisory only” instructions involving the presumption of innocence and the standard of proof in some way (either expressly or by implication).
(Joining Judgment Only – Watts – Courts should not automatically grant new trials based on Unger)
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James Kulbicki v. State of Maryland
Court of Appeals, Battaglia, Filed Dec. 17, 2015,
Motion to remand for further argument denied (following a sharp reversal by the USSC in Maryland v. James Kulbicki). Summary here
MARYLAND, PETITIONER v. JAMES KULBICKI
Supreme Court of the United States, Per Curiam, Filed Oct. 5, 2015,
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel – Failure to “predict the demise” of a “widely accepted” scientific method was not ineffective assistance of counsel