DeSean Alexander Bruce v. Arizona
DueProcess HabeasCorpus
Was Petitioner denied due process, a fair trial, a fair appeal, and fair postconviction proceedings
QUESTIONS PRESENTED | FIRST: Was Petitioner denied due process, a fair trial, a fair appeal, and fair postconviction proceedings, due to the following circumstances: 1. He was consistently denied effective assistance of trial counsel and appellate counsel. 2. The only direct evidence against him was from eyewitnesses whose testimony was prejudicially affected by police identification procedures which were demonstrably unfair. 3. The suppression hearing regarding the eyewitness testimony was fatally flawed by court rulings which precluded Petitioner from calling the eyewitnesses to testify and precluded Petitioner from presenting evidence of impairment of the witnesses due to substance abuse. 4. The trial proceedings were marred by persistent prosecutorial misconduct. 5. Valid alibi evidence was precluded. 6. The pretrial and trial prosecutors engaged in misconduct of the type which later resulted in the disbarment of the trial prosecutor and homicide reversals of the pretrial prosecutor. 7. The police detectives engaged in deceptive, illegal practices in regard to photo identifications. They frequently misrepresented facts in their testimony. BA post-conviction timeliness rule was fatally ambiguous and indefinite in its setting of preclusive time frames and in failing to require a showing of prejudice SECOND: Should Petitioner’s disproportionate and illegal sentence be reduced?