Whether racial bias in the jury selection process violated the defendant's Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection in a capital murder case

No question identified. : 1 APPLICATION FOR A 30-DAY EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE A PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPALS OF TEXAS To the Honorable Samuel Alito, Associate Justice, and Circuit Justice for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit: 1. This is a capital direct appeal proceeding. On June 5, 2024, the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas (“TCCA”) affirmed Mr. Acosta’s judgment convicting him of capital murder and imposing a death sentence (attached as Exhibit 1). 2. This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1257(a). 3. At present, Mr. Acosta has until September 3, 2024, to file a petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of the TCCA’s decision. See U.S.S.Ct.R. 13.1, 13.3. 4. Under Rule 13.5 and Rule 30.3, this Court may extend the time for seeking certiorari for up to sixty (60) additional days. Your Honor should grant an extension of 30 days under the circumstances, up to and including October 3, 2024. 5. Counsel for the respondent does not oppose the requested extension of time. 6. The issues to be presented in Mr. Ac osta’s capital case are significant, including the right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. See Buck v. Davis , 580 U.S. 100 (2017); Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado , 580 U.S. 206 (2017). 7. Jennae Swiergula is Senior Counsel for a non-profit legal services corporation (Texas Defender Service (“TDS”)), which pr ovides direct legal representation to several individuals convicted of capital mu rder and sentenced to death or convicted of other serious felony offenses. At TD S, Ms. Swiergula both provides direct 2 representation and supervises the work of the other attorneys on her cases. Separately, she also works as a consultant for the Texas Habeas and Training Project. Several of her cases, including capital ca ses in state post-conviction and end-stage proceedings, have been active in recent months and have required a significant amount of Ms. Swiergula’s time. Consequent ly, additional time is needed to prepare the petition for writ of certiorari in Mr. Acosta’s case. CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, the application for extension of time should be granted, extending the time to file a petition for writ of certiora ri for 30 days, until October 3, 2024. Respectfully submitted, _ Jennae Swiergula TEXAS DEFENDER SERVICE 9390 RESEARCH BLVD KALEIDO II, SUITE 210 AUSTIN , TX 78759 TEL: (512) 320-8300 JSWIERGULA @TEXASDEFENDER .ORG Counsel for Hector Acosta