No. 25-578

Joshua Eric Hawk Clark v. Burl Cain, Commissioner, Mississippi Department of Corrections

Lower Court: Fifth Circuit
Docketed: 2025-11-17
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Response Waived
Tags: certificate-of-appealability fourteenth-amendment gatekeeping-function habeas-corpus scientific-evidence shaken-baby-syndrome
Key Terms:
DueProcess HabeasCorpus Punishment JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2026-01-09
Question Presented (from Petition)

Did the Court of Appeals erroneously deny Petitioner Joshua Clark a Certificate of Appealability on his Fourteenth Amendment claims even though Petitioner established that: (a) in all civil cases, a trial judge is required to act as a gatekeeper to determine the reliability of scientific evidence before that evidence can be received; (b) in Joshua Clark's criminal case, the trial judge refused to determine reliability of scientific evidence; and (c) the evidence in Joshua Clark's criminal case was uncontradicted that Shaken Baby Syndrome is not a scientifically reliable diagnosis?

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Did the Court of Appeals erroneously deny Petitioner Joshua Clark a Certificate of Appealability on his Fourteenth Amendment claims regarding scientific evidence reliability in a criminal case?

Docket Entries

2026-01-12
Petition DENIED.
2025-12-03
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/9/2026.
2025-11-24
Waiver of right of respondent Cain, Comm'r, MS DOC to respond filed.
2025-11-06
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due December 17, 2025)

Attorneys

Cain, Comm'r, MS DOC
Jerrolyn Martin OwensMississippi Attorney General's, Respondent
Joshua Eric Hawk Clark
Jim WaideWaide & Associates, P.A., Petitioner