No. 18-8201

Robert Edward Butler v. Howard W. Clarke, Director, Virginia Department of Corrections

Lower Court: Fourth Circuit
Docketed: 2019-02-28
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: civil-rights constitutional-provisions court-appeal due-process federal-habeas federal-habeas-review habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jurisdiction legal-review procedural-default retroactivity state-post-conviction-proceedings statutory-provisions writ-of-certiorari
Latest Conference: 2019-04-12
Question Presented (from Petition)

1. Whether Supreme Court's decisions in Buck v. Davis 137 S.Ct. 759 (2017), Trevino v. Thaler, and Martinez v. Ryan apply retroactively to Robert Butler's case where state habeas counsel was constitutionally ineffective in failing to raise an ineffective assistance of appellate counsel claim that was defaulted in a state postconviction proceeding, and whether the state procedural bar in state habeas where counsel's failure to file a Notice of Appeal in his First Direct Appeal was not advanced by the State in District Court on collateral review was waived retroactively.

2. Whether the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and District Court erred and abused its discretion when it denied his Appeal Rule 60(b) Motion, surrounding the new change in the law applied retroactively to Robert Butler's case?

3. Finally, whether the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and District Court Judgments resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court in Martinez v. Ryan (2012) and Trevino v. Thaler (2013)?

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether Supreme Court decisions in Buck v. Davis, Martinez v. Ryan, and Trevino v. Thaler permit federal habeas review of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel claims that were procedurally defaulted in state post-conviction proceedings

Docket Entries

2019-04-15
The motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis is denied, and the petition for a writ of certiorari is dismissed. See Rule 39.8.
2019-03-21
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/12/2019.
2019-03-15
Waiver of right of respondent Clarke, Dir., VA DOC to respond filed.
2018-11-22
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due April 1, 2019)

Attorneys

Clarke, Dir., VA DOC
Toby Jay HeytensOffice of the Attorney General, Respondent
Robert Edward Butler
Robert Edward Butler — Petitioner