OCTOBER TERM, 1992
Per Curiam
on petition for writ of certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the eleventh circuit
No. 92-5579. Decided January 19, 1993
A Georgia jury found petitioner guilty of murder and sentenced him to death. In his first federal habeas petition, the District Court rejected his claim that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at sentencing, relying on the testimony of petitioner's counsel about the content of his closing argument because a transcript, by the State's representation, was unavailable. After the Court of Appeals affirmed, also relying on counsel's testimony, petitioner located a transcript which flatly contradicted counsel's account. However, the Court of Appeals, now reviewing related proceedings from the District Court, denied his motion to supplement the record on appeal with the transcript. In affirming the District Court's denial of relief on other claims, the Court of Appeals held that the law of the case doctrine prevented it from revisiting its prior rejection of the ineffective-assistance claim, and refused to apply the manifest injustice exception because its denial of leave to supplement the record left petitioner unable to show injustice.
Held: The Court of Appeals erred by refusing to consider the sentencing hearing transcript. The transcript is no doubt relevant, for it calls into serious question the factual predicate on which the lower courts relied in deciding petitioner's ineffective-assistance claim. Moreover, the Court of Appeals acknowledged that its refusal to review the transcript left it unable to apply the manifest injustice exception to the law of the case doctrine and hence unable to determine whether it should reconsider its prior decision. Exclusion cannot be justified by the delay in the transcript's discovery, since the delay resulted substantially from the State's own erroneous assertions that no transcript existed.
Certiorari granted; 963 F. 2d 1403, reversed and remanded.
Per Curiam.
The motion of petitioner for leave to proceed in forma pauperis and the petition for a writ of certiorari are granted.
A Georgia jury found petitioner Wilburn Dobbs guilty of murder and sentenced him to death. In his first federal habeas petition, petitioner claimed, inter alia, that he received
357
Page: Index 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007