No. 21-6705

Robert Tracy Warterfield v. Bobby Lumpkin, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division

Lower Court: Fifth Circuit
Docketed: 2021-12-22
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
IFP
Tags: aedpa certificate-of-appealability conflict-of-interest contracts-clause district-court due-process final-judgment habeas-corpus interlocutory-appeal jurisdiction plea-agreement sixth-amendment
Key Terms:
DueProcess HabeasCorpus
Latest Conference: 2022-02-18
Question Presented (from Petition)

1) Does a United States.Court of Appeals have jurisdiction pursuant
to 28 U.S.C. §1291 to deny a Motion for a Certificate of Appealability
when the District Court's putative Final Judgement in a 28 U.S.C.
§2254 proceeding is issued prior to resolution of a pending inter
locutory appeal perfected under 28 U.S.C. §1292(a)(1) thereby making
the District Court's Judgement premature and ipso facto not "final?"

2) Has the Supreme Court of the United States effectively nullified
or else diminished the Contracts Clause (Art.I, §10) over time to
the point that the Constitutional prohibition that "No State shall
...pass any...Law impairing the Obligations of Contract..." is
irrelevant to the proper interpretation and enforcement of plea
agreement contracts?

3) Does the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment compel
State prosecutors to perform, and courts' to interpret and enforce,
plea agreements pursuant to the status of the laws in existence at
formation?

4) Where a prosecution is void ab initio because it contravenes a
vested contractual right to immunity from prosecution, is the AEDPA
one year limitations under 28 U.S.C. §2244(d) (1)(A) inapposite
since it requires a " fina 1" conviction to operate?

5) Where trial counsel is first retained and paid in full then
becomes court appointed to frauduently enlarge his fees over Defend
ant's written pretrial objection, is an actual conflict of interests
created wherein the client's legal interests are subordinated to
the attorney's legal interests causing a per se denial of the right
to counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment?

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Does a United States Court of Appeals have jurisdiction to deny a Motion for a Certificate of Appealability when the District Court's putative Final Judgement in a 28 U.S.C. §2254 proceeding is issued prior to resolution of a pending interlocutory appeal perfected under 28 U.S.C. §1292(a)(1)

Docket Entries

2022-02-22
Petition DENIED.
2022-02-03
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/18/2022.
2021-10-29
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due January 21, 2022)

Attorneys

Robert Tracy Warterfield
Robert Tracy Warterfield — Petitioner