Whether the Eighth Amendment and Sixth Amendment require reversal of a capital murder conviction where trial counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance and the prosecution presented potentially false testimony

No question identified. : 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 federal habeas corpus proceeding resulting from Petitioner John Allen Rubio’s conviction and death sentence. On May 21, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied Mr. Rubio a certificate of appealability from the district court’s denial of his federal habeas petition in an unpublished per curiam opinion. That opinion is appended to this Application. 2. This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1254(1). 3. At present, Mr. Rubio has until August 19, 2025, to file a petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of the Fifth Circuit’s decision. See SuP. CT. R. 13.1; 13.3. 4. Under Rule 13.5 and Rule 30.3, this Court may extend the time for filing a petition for writ of certiorari for up to 60 additional days. Mr. Rubio respectfully requests an extension of 30 days under the circumstances, up to and including September 18, 2025. 5. Counsel for Mr. Rubio contacted counsel for the Respondent, and the Respondent is unopposed to the requested extension of time. 6. No prejudice will result to either party if this extension is granted. 7. The issues to be presented in Mr. Rubio’s capital case are significant. His federal habeas petition raised serious questions regarding ineffective assistance of trial counsel, the State’s presentation of false testimony, and other constitutional violations which pervaded both the guilt and sentencing phase of his capital trial. 8. Jeremy Schepers, counsel of record for Mr. Rubio, is the supervisor of the Capital Habeas Unit (CHU) of the Office of the Federal Public Defender, Northern District of Texas. As supervisor of the CHU, Mr. Schepers both provides direct representation and supervises the work of the CHU staff, including its attorneys. Several of his cases, including capital cases in federal habeas corpus proceedings in the Fifth Circuit and end-stage proceedings, have been active in recent months and have required a significant amount of his time. This includes David Wood’s case, where this Court recently granted a petition for writ of certiorari, vacated the Fifth Circuit’s opinion, and remanded the case for further proceedings. Wood v. Patton, __ S. Ct. _ (Mem) (June 30, 2025). A letter brief is due in the Fifth Circuit on July 22, 2025, regarding that remand. Mr. Schepers is also counsel for Blaine Milam, who is scheduled to be executed on September 25, 2025, and Mr. Milam’s case will require significant time and work over the coming months. 9. Lee Kovarsky is also appointed counsel for Mr. Rubio, under 18 U.S.C. § 3599. Mr. Kovarsky is a full-time professor at the University of Texas School of Law, but he is in the midst of transitioning to Harvard Law School for the fall. He is submitting two full-length articles on August 1, totaling roughly 45,000 words of writing. He is also § 3599 counsel on several other pending Texas capital post-conviction cases. Most notably, he is lead counsel for Carlos Ayestas, who is now litigating a discovery order in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In short order, he will be engaged in motions practice and filing an Appellee’s brief, which will require considerable work on top of his full-time academic job. 10. Consequently, additional time is needed to prepare the petition for writ of certiorari in Mr. Rubio’s case. CONCLUSION 11. For the foregoing reasons, the application for extension of time should be granted, extending the time to file a petition for writ of certiorari for 30 days, up to and including September 18, 2025. Respectfully submitted, Jeremy Schepers* Supervisor, Capital Habeas Unit Federal Public Defender’s Office Northern District of Texas 525 South Griffin Street, Ste. 629 Dallas, Texas 75202 214.767.2746 Counsel for Petitioner * Counsel of record Lee Kovarsky Special Counsel Phillips Black, Inc. A Non-Profi