No. 25-5528

Arthur L. Vitasek v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, et al.

Lower Court: Ninth Circuit
Docketed: 2025-09-03
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: arguable-claims criminal-defendant habeas-relief judicial-jurisdiction magistrate-determination ninth-circuit-procedure
Key Terms:
DueProcess FourthAmendment HabeasCorpus
Latest Conference: 2025-10-10
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the Magistrate, District Court Judge, and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lost jurisdiction after determining an arguable issue existed without appointing counsel to represent the defendant

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

In Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), this Court held that, for the purposes of Federal habeas relief, once “A Court ” determines that the trial record supports arguable claims, ...the criminal defendant is entitled to representation. 109 S.Ct. at 351. This case presents the following question: Under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), whether the Magistrate, the District Court Judge, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lost jurisdiction to provide rulings on this case once the Magistrate determined an arguable issue existed without appointing counsel to represent the defendant on the arguable issue that the magistrate recognized.

Docket Entries

2025-10-14
Petition DENIED.
2025-09-25
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/10/2025.
2025-09-10
Waiver of right of respondent Ryan Thornell, et al. to respond filed.
2025-08-08
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due October 3, 2025)

Attorneys

Arthur Vitasek
Arthur L. Vitasek — Petitioner
Ryan Thornell, et al.
Tanja K. KellyArizona Attorney General's Office, Respondent