No. 22-5523

Lawrence Gaines v. Morris Houser, Superintendent, State Correctional Institution at Benner Township, et al.

Lower Court: Third Circuit
Docketed: 2022-09-08
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: appellate-review constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instructions no-adverse-inference strategic-decision trial-counsel
Key Terms:
HabeasCorpus Jurisdiction
Latest Conference: 2022-10-07
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the court of appeals erred in reversing the district court's decision that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the omission of a no adverse inference instruction

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED FOR REVIEW I. WHETHER THE COURT OF APPEALS ERRED WHEN IT REVERSED THE WELL REASONED DECISION OF THE DISTRICT COURT WHICH HELD THAT TRIAL COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILING TO OBJECT TO THE TRIAL COURT’S OMISSION OF THE NO ADVERSE INFERENCE INSTRUCTION AFTER TRIAL COUNSEL REQUESTED THE INSTRUCTION AND THE STATE TRIAL COURT AGREED TO GIVE THE INSTRUCTION? Il. WHETHER THE COURT OF APPEALS ERRED WHEN IT REVERSED THE WELL REASONED DECISION OF THE DISTRICT COURT WHICH HELD THAT TRIAL COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILING TO OBJECT TO THE TRIAL COURT’S OMISSION OF THE NO ADVERSE INFERENCE INSTRUCTION AFTER TRIAL COUNSEL REQUESTED THE INSTRUCTION AND THE STATE TRIAL COURT AGREED TO GIVE THE INSTRUCTION AND THE APPELLATE COURT’S POSTION THAT THE FAILURE TO OBJECT WAS STRATEGIC WHEN TRIAL COUNSEL’S STRATEGY WAS AN UNREASONABLE DECISION PARADING UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF STRATEGY?

Docket Entries

2022-10-11
Petition DENIED.
2022-09-22
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/7/2022.
2022-09-15
Waiver of right of respondent Superintendent, Benner Township SCI, et al. to respond filed.
2022-09-02
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due October 11, 2022)

Attorneys

Lawrence Gaines
Cheryl J. SturmAttorney at Law, Petitioner
Cheryl J. SturmAttorney at Law, Petitioner
Superintendent, Benner Township SCI, et al.
Katharine Rae KurnasNorthampton County District Attorney's Office, Respondent
Katharine Rae KurnasNorthampton County District Attorney's Office, Respondent