closing-argument
34 cases — ← All topics
| Case | Title | Lower Court | Docketed | Status | Flags | Tags | Question Presented |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-6725 | Shawn D. Powell v. Fidencio Guzman, Warden | Ninth Circuit | 2026-02-05 | Pending | Response WaivedIFP | closing-argument habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance strickland-standard trial-counsel witness-credibility | During closing argument at Petitioner Shawn Powell's trial, his trial counsel unreasonably conceded Powell's guilt of vandalism and violation of a pro… |
| 25A650 | Alabama v. Brandon Dewayne Sykes | Alabama | 2025-12-03 | Application | closing-argument fifth-amendment griffin-violation harmless-error prosecutorial-comment self-incrimination | Question not identified. | |
| 25-5545 | Miguel Angel Homedes v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2025-09-04 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review closing-argument due-process evidentiary-rules prosecutorial-misconduct trial-procedure | Whether improper prosecutorial statements in closing argument are sufficiently flagrant to warrant reversal, where they inserted facts not directly in… |
| 23-7697 | Zachary Kelsey v. Tim Garrett, Warden, et al. | Ninth Circuit | 2024-06-12 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | cause-of-death closing-argument criminal-procedure criminal-trial forensic-pathologist forensic-pathology habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel second-degree-murder sixth-amendment | 1. Whether Zachary Kelsey was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel when trial counsel waived Kelsey's closing argument at trial. 2. Whethe… |
| 23-7619 | Brandon Gibbs v. Texas | Texas | 2024-06-03 | Denied | IFP | closing-argument constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process fifth-amendment prosecutorial-misconduct self-incrimination | Did prosecutor improperly comment on Petitioner's failure to testify during closing argument, in violation of the Fifth Amendment? |
| 23-7544 | Rodolfo Morales-Cortez v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2024-05-22 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | burden-of-proof closing-argument criminal-procedure defendant-rights due-process objection-standard prejudice prosecutorial-misconduct | Does a defendant who timely objects to a prosecutor's misconduct during closing argument nevertheless bear the burden to show that it caused him preju… |
| 23-7319 | Yudith Reynoso-Hiciano v. United States | Second Circuit | 2024-04-26 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | aiding-and-abetting burden-of-proof closing-argument criminal-procedure jury-instructions presumption-of-innocence reasonable-doubt | Whether repeatedly arguing in closing that the defendant 'needed the jury to believe' certain things impermissibly shifted the burden of proof and evi… |
| 23-5257 | Angel Rios-Edeza v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2023-08-01 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | burden-of-proof closing-argument criminal-procedure due-process evidence-vouching jury-instructions ninth-circuit prosecutorial-misconduct rebuttal-argument | Prosecutors are allowed to strike hard blows but not foul ones. Here, in closing and rebuttal argument, the prosecutor vouched for the evidence, impro… |
| 22-7536 | Mark D. Sievers v. Florida | Florida | 2023-05-12 | Denied | IFP | closing-argument due-process fair-trial jury-instruction plea-agreement polygraph prosecutorial-misconduct witness-credibility | At Petitioner's trial for the murder of his wife, the state prosecutor proceeded under a murder-for-hire theory that relied entirely on the testimony … |
| 22-905 | Troy A. Gregory v. United States | Tenth Circuit | 2023-03-17 | Denied | Response Waived | closing-argument confession due-process hypothetical identification prosecutorial-misconduct | Can a prosecutor act out a hypothetical confession by the defendant in closing argument when it is uncontested that the defendant did not confess? |
| 21-7449 | Leonard S. Taylor v. Paul Blair, Warden | Eighth Circuit | 2022-03-23 | Denied | IFP | capital-punishment capital-trial closing-argument ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel martinez-standard martinez-v-ryan mccoy-v-louisiana nixon-v-florida sixth-amendment strickland-test strickland-v-washington | 1. Whether the decision to forego a closing argument in the penalty phase of a capital murder trial is a tactical decision for trial counsel to make o… |
| 21-7289 | Katrina Brown v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2022-03-07 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | closing-argument criminal-procedure fair-trial judicial-error motion-for-severance prejudice right-to-counsel severance standby-counsel | I. WHETHER THE DISTRICT COURT COMMITTED ERROR BY ORDERING THE DEFENDANT TO GO FORWARD WITH CLOSING ARGUMENT WITHOUT STANDBY COUNSEL LANDES BEING PRESE… |
| 21-7260 | George K. Mackie v. Massachusetts | Massachusetts | 2022-03-02 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | closing-argument criminal-procedure impeachment ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instructions miscarriage-of-justice prosecutorial-misconduct reasonable-doubt | A. DID THE APPEALS COURT ERR IN HOLDING THAT THE ERROR-LADEN CLOSING ARGUMENT BY THE PROSECUTER, TAKEN IN ITS TOTALITY, CREATE A SUBSTANTIAL RISK OF A… |
| 21-7040 | Harshadkumar Nanjibhai Jadav v. J. Woodson, Warden | Virginia | 2022-02-01 | Denied | IFP | closing-argument constitutional-rights due-process fair-trial false-evidence prosecutorial-misconduct trial-procedure | A. Does the prosecutor's deliberate use of a known false evidence—which is also an outside evidence—during closing argument violate the accused's Cons… |
| 21-6475 | Mark Hollingsworth v. Maryland | Maryland | 2021-12-03 | Denied | IFP | brady-violation closing-argument criminal-procedure due-process false-testimony jury-argument napue-v-illinois napue-violation prosecutorial-misconduct right-to-fair-trial | Did the Maryland State Courts err in finding that the Prosecutor did not violate Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264 (1959) when the Prosecutor argued to … |
| 21-5889 | Anibal Alejandro Hernandez v. Bobby Lumpkin, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division | Fifth Circuit | 2021-10-12 | Denied | IFP | closing-argument courtroom-security criminal-procedure due-process fair-trial ineffective-assistance-of-counsel prejudicial-statements shackling trial-shackling | Was Petitioner denied the effective assistance of counsel when his trial counsel failed to object to Petitioner being ordered by the trial court to be… |
| 21-5135 | Michael Ray Orr v. Texas | Texas | 2021-07-19 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | closing-argument criminal-procedure defendant-rights demeanor fifth-amendment prosecutorial-misconduct self-incrimination trial-procedure | DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR BY DENYING MR. ORR'S OBJECTION TO IMPROPER CLOSING ARGUMENT BY THE PROSECUTOR? THIS IMPROPER ARGUMENT CONSISTED OF: 1) BY DEL… |
| 21-41 | James Allen Jackson v. Texas | Texas | 2021-07-13 | Denied | Response Waived | closing-argument constitutional-rights criminal-procedure habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel prejudice procedural-due-process racist-testimony right-to-silence trial-counsel wiccan-testimony | I. Was petitioner denied the effective assistance of counsel when defense counsel failed to object to irrelevant, inflammatory testimony that petition… |
| 20-1712 | Charles Paul-Thomas Phoenix v. The Florida Bar | Florida | 2021-06-10 | Denied | Response Waived | attorney-disciplinary-proceeding attorney-discipline charge-not-in-original closing-argument due-process grievance-committee in-re-ruffalo probable-cause quasicriminal-nature | Whether a charge, in a state bar attorney disciplinary proceeding for which the attorney grievance committee had determined there was no probable caus… |
| 20-8203 | Dasheme Kareme Hosley v. Rick Hill, Warden | Ninth Circuit | 2021-06-02 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | closing-argument due-process harmless-error judicial-ratification jury-instruction jury-instructions legal-misstatement prosecutorial-misconduct trial-court trial-procedure | In a prosecutorial misconduct claim based upon a misstatement of law during closing argument, should courts presume that the jury followed the trial c… |
| 20-6871 | Angnem Green v. New York | New York | 2021-01-13 | Denied | IFP | closing-argument constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process equal-protection fair-trial prosecutorial-misconduct racial-bias racial-discrimination | Petitioner an African-American man, was tried for the crime of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance, namely cocaine. During the prosecutor's closin… |
| 20-5389 | Milkiyas Bayisa v. United States | District of Columbia | 2020-08-18 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-procedure closing-argument constitutional-rights due-process judicial-review prosecutorial-misconduct rebuttal religious-references | I. WHETHER THE PROSECUTOR' S REPEATED REFER ENCES TO GOD DURING REBUTTAL CLO SING ARGUMENT CONSTI TUTED HIGHLY PREJUDICIAL PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT RE… |
| 20-5154 | Jorge Armando Herrera Salguero v. California | Ninth Circuit | 2020-07-23 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | certificate-of-appealability closing-argument credibility due-process habeas habeas-corpus prosecutorial-misconduct witness-credibility | Is the Ninth Circuit's denial of a COA on Salguero's prosecutorial misconduct claim contrary to this Court's jurisprudence? |
| 19-8335 | Mitchell Willoughby v. Deedra Hart, Warden | Sixth Circuit | 2020-04-22 | Denied | IFP | caldwell-precedent capital-sentencing closing-argument death-penalty jury jury-instructions prosecutor prosecutorial-misconduct sixth-circuit state-law voir-dire | "The uncorrected suggestion that the responsibility for any ultimate determination of death will rest with others presents an intolerable danger that … |
| 19-7590 | David K. Howell v. Shawn Hatton, Warden | Ninth Circuit | 2020-02-07 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | certificate-of-appealability closing-argument criminal-procedure due-process expert-testimony habeas habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel intoxication methamphetamine methamphetamine-intoxication sixth-amendment | This Court has repeatedly held that to receive a certificate of appealability ("COA"), a habeas petitioner need only show that "'jurists of reason cou… |
| 18-7858 | Arif Majid v. Jeff Noble, Warden | Sixth Circuit | 2019-02-08 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | burden-of-proof closing-argument constitutional-rights due-process fair-trial jury-bias jury-instructions prosecutorial-misconduct religious-prejudice trial-fairness | Whether a prosecutor's appeals to religious prejudice in closing argument and throughout trial to inflame the passions of the jury embody animus or of… |
| 18-7834 | Brent William Bogseth v. Michigan | Michigan | 2019-02-07 | Denied | IFP | 14th-amendment 5th-amendment closing-argument constitutional-rights criminal-procedure deliberation due-process evidence fair-trial fifth-amendment murder premeditation prosecutorial-misconduct self-incrimination | I. If there is no evidence to show that a defendant actvally Committed the offense of Murder Can premedifation and deliberation then exist as the lowe… |
| 18-7434 | Christopher Adin Graham v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-01-15 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 28-usc-2253 appellate-procedure certificate-of-appealability closing-argument counsel-claims due-process habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel judicial-review legal-standard prejudice testimony | Whether the court of appeals correctly denied petitioner a certificate of appealability under 28 U.S.C. 2253(c) on his ineffective assistance of couns… |
| 18-7265 | Rodney Scot Armstrong, Jr. v. Michigan | Michigan | 2019-01-07 | Denied | IFP | civil-procedure closing-argument de-novo-review directed-verdict legal-preservation motion objection preservation-of-error preservation-of-issues prosecutorial-misconduct standard-of-review trial-procedure | I. Is a motion for a directed verdict an objection that preserves an issue for and mandates de novo review? Petitioner answers, "Yes." Respondent has … |
| 18-7089 | Esau Milliner v. Kathy Litteral, Warden | Sixth Circuit | 2018-12-19 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appeal-waiver closing-argument confession constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-burglary ineffective-assistance-of-counsel initial-aggressor procedural-bar right-to-appeal right-to-testify self-defense trial-counsel | Whether Petitioner was denied the effective assistance of counsel to which he was constitutionally entitled when trial counsel failed to present readi… |
| 18-6701 | Roger Dale Epperson v. Kentucky | Kentucky | 2018-11-14 | Denied | IFP | client-autonomy closing-argument concession-of-guilt criminal-procedure defense-strategy ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel mccoy-v-louisiana right-to-control-defense right-to-counsel sixth-amendment | Is a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to counsel, and the right to control the objective of the defense, violated, under the Court's recent decision … |
| 18-5563 | Peter Cain Bruton v. Lorie Davis, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division | Fifth Circuit | 2018-08-13 | Denied | IFP | closing-argument extraneous-offenses ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel mistrial motion-in-limine prosecutorial-misconduct trial-counsel violation violation-of-court-order | Before the trial, Petitioner's trial counsel filed a motion in limine, which was granted by the trial court. By adoption, the court ordered that, if t… |
| 18-5464 | Jose Benitez, Jr. v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2018-08-03 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | armed-bank-robbery closing-argument constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process firearm firearm-specification indictment indictment-variance jury-instructions prosecutorial-discretion variance | 1. Does a constructive amendment occur where the jury instructions relieve the Government of proving, as alleged in the indictment, that a defendant c… |
| 18-5433 | Helen Atkins v. Julie L. Jones, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections | Eleventh Circuit | 2018-08-01 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | closing-argument constitutional-rights due-process effective-assistance-of-counsel fair-trial hearsay-evidence ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instructions prosecutorial-misconduct right-to-testify sixth-amendment speedy-trial | 1. WAS THE PETITIONER DENIED HER RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL WHEN THE TRIAL COURT OVERRULED HER OBJECTION TO PROSECUTOR'S CLOSING ARGUMENT AND WAS THE PETIT… |