No. 25-650

Raymon Walters v. United States

Lower Court: Third Circuit
Docketed: 2025-12-04
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Response Waived
Tags: counsel-strategy criminal-defense defendant-rights jury-trial legal-ethics sixth-amendment
Key Terms:
SecondAmendment
Latest Conference: 2026-01-09
Question Presented (AI Summary)

When guilt is the sole issue for the jury, is it ever permissible for counsel to make the unilateral decision to concede an element of the offense charged?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

In McCoy v. Louisiana , 584 U.S. 414 (2018), this Court held that the Sixth Amendment protects a defendant’s “right to insist that counsel refrain from ad-mitting guilt, even when counsel’s experienced-based view is that confessing guilt offers the defendant the best chance” to obtain a less severe sentence. Id. at 417. The McCoy dissent observed that the majority opinion left open “a related—and “When guilt is the sole issue for the jury, is it ever permissible for counsel to make the unilateral decision to concede an element of the offense charged?” Id. at 435 (Alito, J., dissenting). The question presented is: Whether defense counsel may concede an element of an offense over the defendant’s objection, where the concession is reasonably designed to advance the de-fendant’s objective of obtaining an acquittal.

Docket Entries

2026-01-12
Petition DENIED.
2025-12-16
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/9/2026.
2025-12-11
Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
2025-12-02
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 5, 2026)
2025-11-24
Application (25A600) granted by Justice Alito extending the time to file until January 2, 2026.
2025-11-18
Application (25A600) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from December 3, 2025 to January 2, 2026, submitted to Justice Alito.

Attorneys

Raymon Walters
Ephraim Alexander McDowellCooley LLP, Petitioner
Ephraim Alexander McDowellCooley LLP, Petitioner
United States
D. John SauerSolicitor General, Respondent
D. John SauerSolicitor General, Respondent