Appeal and Collateral Attack (From Criminal Justice Administration Cases and Materials, Fourth Edition, P 1232-1260, 1991, Frank W Miller, Robert O Dawson, et al. -- See NCJ-129355)

• NCJ Number: 129381
• Author(s): F W Miller; R O Dawson; G E Dix; R I Parnas
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 29 pages
• Sale Source: Foundation Press
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter discusses general principles governing postconviction procedures and remedies with two relevant U.S. Supreme Court cases included.

Abstract

A discussion of the tension between appellate caseload and postconviction remedies takes an excerpt from the Report of the Federal Courts Study Committee of April 2, 1990. The report concludes that the huge volume of appellate cases could cause the Nation to decide, within the next 5 years, whether or not to abandon the present circuit structure in favor of an alternative structure that would better organize the numerous appellate judges needed to handle the swollen caseload. The U.S. Supreme Court case of Ross v. Moffitt (1974) is presented in the context of a discussion of structures for direct appeal. In this case, the Court ruled that the equal-protection clause of the U.S. Constitution does not require a State to provide free counsel for indigent defendants seeking to take discretionary appeals to the State supreme court or to file petitions for certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court. Wainwright v. Sykes (1977), heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, pertains to collateral attack. In this case, the Court determined that the rule of Francis v. Henderson, supra, barring Federal habeas review absent a showing of "cause" and "prejudice" attendant to a State procedural waiver should be applied to a waived objection to the admission of a confession at trial. Case notes are provided.