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37 results for “Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry”

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Tags Question Presented
25-6384 Edward F. Parks v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2025-12-16 Pending None Question not identified.
25-6380 Anthony James Merrick v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2025-12-16 Pending due-process first-amendment grievance-rights judicial-decision legal-access pro-se-prisoner I. THE NINTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS DECISION CONFLICTS WITH TURNER V. SAFELY, 482 U.S. 78 AND CREATES A DOUBLE STANDARD FOR PRO-SE PRISONERS THAT DO…
25-690 Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. v. Bradley Bieganski Ninth Circuit 2025-12-12 Pending burden-shifting constitutional-law criminal-procedure due-process habeas-corpus ninth-circuit-review Did the Ninth Circuit fail to apply the correct deferential standard of review, as set out in 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d), and also misapply this Court's prec…
25A670 Marzet Farris, III v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2025-12-09 Application certificate-of-appealability constitutional-right habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance post-conviction procedural-default Question not identified.
25A523 Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. v. Bradley Bieganski Ninth Circuit 2025-11-06 Application aedpa de-novo-review deferential-standard habeas-corpus ninth-circuit state-court-review Whether the Ninth Circuit improperly applied de novo review instead of the deferential standard of review required under the Antiterrorism and Effecti…
25-5613 Andres Serrato Garnica v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2025-09-11 Denied None A. v^4 <f£ Corpwi a/%A n«V CaA 0^ He^a^ 6W mu?-4j flu 4e 6We #f- M*kA <tF O'U^e^ Vtel-w v*rfe ? g -He T*\ A.oV ' /'•ft 'heF 6^ P '&M'fr(A6''>S 'IAU^W …
25-5341 Kenneth Jeremy Laird v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2025-08-13 Denied constitutional-law criminal-procedure eighth-amendment juvenile-sentencing sentencing-discretion supreme-court-precedent In 1994, an Arizona judge sentenced Mr. Laird to death for a murder conviction and a total of 129 years in prison for 13 other nonhomicide crimes. Mr.…
24-7497 Michael Marion Cotham v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2025-06-25 Denied appellate-review constitutional-rights due-process faretta-right ineffective-assistance self-representation Whether the Arizona Court of Appeals' decision was 'contrary' to Faretta v. Arizona regarding termination of self-representation rights
24-6989 Darrel Eston Lee v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry Ninth Circuit 2025-04-15 Denied habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance mitigation-investigation post-conviction-relief strickland-standard williams-v-taylor Did the lower federal courts violate the rule of Williams v. Taylor by attributing fault for not developing factual support of a claim in state court …
24-6884 Arthur L. Vitasek v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2025-03-28 Denied arguable-claims court-rulings criminal-procedure habeas-corpus judicial-jurisdiction legal-representation Whether the Magistrate, District Court Judge, and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lost jurisdiction after determining an arguable issue existed without…
24-6668 Chad Alan Lee v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry Ninth Circuit 2025-02-27 Denied agency-relationship federal-habeas ineffective-assistance post-conviction-relief procedural-default state-court-exhaustion Whether attorney abandonment in state PCR proceedings excuses a petitioner's failure to develop factual basis of a claim under 28 U.S.C § 2254(e)(2)
24A774 Darrel Eston Lee v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry Ninth Circuit 2025-02-11 Presumed Complete conviction-challenge death-penalty federal-review habeas-corpus ninth-circuit standard-of-review Whether the Ninth Circuit applied the correct standard of review in denying a death row prisoner's habeas corpus petition challenging his conviction a…
24A625 Chad Alan Lee v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry Ninth Circuit 2024-12-26 Presumed Complete certiorari death-row federal-review habeas-corpus ninth-circuit state-conviction Whether the Ninth Circuit applied the correct standard for denying a federal habeas corpus petition challenging a state criminal conviction
24M2 Larry Donnell Dunlap v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2024-07-03 Presumed Complete None
23-7261 Geary Wayne Walton v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2024-04-19 Denied cruel-and-unusual-punishment death-penalty eighth-amendment execution mental-illness rational-understanding Whether the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment prohibits the execution of a prisoner who has a severe mental illness that …
23-7102 Jeremy Lee Koons v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry Ninth Circuit 2024-03-28 Denied exclusionary-rule fourth-amendment gps-tracking law-enforcement probable-cause search-and-seizure vehicle-search warrantless-search Whether the warrantless placement of a GPS tracking device on a vehicle and the subsequent warrantless search of that vehicle violates the Fourth Amen…
23-1048 Michael Kellywood v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry Ninth Circuit 2024-03-22 Denied counseling-records due-process habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel medical-records sixth-amendment trial-counsel Whether the denial of Mr. Kellywood's writ of habeas corpus regarding ineffective representation of trial counsel when failing to sufficiently researc…
23-6677 Michael Isidoro Sanchez v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2024-02-06 Denied anders-review appeals appellate-procedure civil-rights colorable-claims due-process indigent-defense of-right-appeal post-conviction-review right-to-counsel smith-v-robbins Whether the Ninth Circuit's reliance on Chavez II was erroneous
23-6464 Michael Edward Aguilar v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2024-01-11 Denied appellate-review certificate-of-appealability constitutional-interpretation criminal-appeal criminal-code due-process effective-assistance-of-counsel sixth-amendment state-law statutory-ambiguity timeliness Whether the dismissal of a criminal appeal as untimely violates the Due Process Clause and the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counse…
23-6110 Eulandas J. Flowers v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry Ninth Circuit 2023-11-27 Denied civil-rights due-process habeas habeas-corpus miller-claim miller-v-alabama postconviction-proceedings procedural-default state-court-ruling state-postconviction Whether a state court's surprise procedural-bar ruling that neither party requested is adequate to support procedural default
23-5438 Fox Joseph Salerno v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-08-24 Dismissed apprendi apprendi-rule blakely blakely-retroactivity certificate-of-appealability due-process jurisdiction retroactivity rule-of-finality rule-of-lenity sentencing sentencing-jurisdiction Does Apprendi decision apply to Arizona Defendants
23-5416 Curtis Benjamin Hollingsworth v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-08-23 Denied civil-rights constitutional-rights double-jeopardy due-process federal-jurisdiction state-action Does the federal courts have to consider States and individuals, acting in their official capacity and/or the authority of the States, do not violate …
23-5158 Martice Deshawn Wallace v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-07-20 Denied constitutional-law criminal-procedure due-process federal-jurisdiction fourteenth-amendment fourth-amendment habeas-corpus suppression-of-evidence witness-testimony Whether the suppression of a witness' testimony violates the defendant's due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment
22-7895 Anthony James Merrick v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-06-29 Denied actual-innocence certiorari-appeal civil-rights constitutional-violation due-process effective-assistance-of-counsel federal-court habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance standing Whether the trial court had a duty to put on the record a colloquy that the defendant knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his right to te…
22-7211 Marco Antonio Aguilar-Medina v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-04-04 Denied appeals appellate-review civil-rights constitutional-law due-process federal-courts fourteenth-amendment habeas-corpus judicial-procedure statute-of-limitations Whether the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals violated Petitioner's constitutional due process rights, as protected by the Fifth Amendment, by (1) denyin…
22-7127 William Michael Meyer v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-03-28 Denied cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment habeas-corpus proportionality state-court-adjudication term-of-years-sentences Whether the state court adjudicated the petitioner's Eighth Amendment claim on the merits
22-7113 Atdom Mikels Patsalis v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-03-27 Denied aggregate-length-of-sentences cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment habeas-corpus proportionality term-of-years-sentences Whether a state court's express refusal to consider a petitioner's constitutional claim constitutes an adjudication on the merits under 28 U.S.C. § 22…
22-860 Chene Devonne Manley v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-03-09 Denied certificate-of-appealability chiari-malformation due-process fourteenth-amendment habeas-corpus newly-discovered-evidence sentencing-determination Does the Due Process Clause of the Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment entitle an applicant to a certificate of appealability regarding a state prison…
22-6905 Francisco Nunez Carrillo v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-03-02 Denied appeal constitutional-law criminal-procedure double-jeopardy sentencing statutory-interpretation Whether the Double Jeopardy Clause prohibits the district court from entering judgment on only one of the multiple counts of conviction when the jury …
22-6900 Tony Deng v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-03-01 Denied cell-phone-search coercion confession-voluntariness deception-tactics due-process habeas-corpus law-enforcement-interrogation reasonable-expectation-of-privacy right-to-counsel will-overborne-standard Whether the 'will overborne' standard or analysis should be used to evaluate the voluntariness of a confession obtained by trickery and deception
22-6655 Theodore Washington v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry Ninth Circuit 2023-01-30 Denied criminal-procedure deference due-process fact-finding federal-court federal-habeas habeas habeas-corpus judicial-deference procedural-review state-court state-court-findings Must a federal habeas court defer to a state-court finding of fact that favors the defendant?
22-664 Stephen Edward May v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-01-19 Denied civil-procedure collateral-consequences federal-courts habeas-corpus jurisdiction jurisdictional-error standing subject-matter-jurisdiction unconditional-release Whether a judgment rendered after a habeas petitioner has been unconditionally released with no collateral consequences is void for lack of subject-ma…
22-6396 John Edward Sansing v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2022-12-27 Denied appellate-review clearly-established-law criminal-procedure death-penalty eighth-amendment federal-habeas mitigating-evidence mitigating-factors sentencing-procedure victim-impact Did the appellate court err in affirming the denial of Sansing's petition on this meritorious claim?
22-6027 Cedric Joseph Rue, Jr. v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry Ninth Circuit 2022-11-08 Denied criminal-procedure eighth-amendment eighth-amendment-interpretation juvenile-offender juvenile-sentencing life-without-parole mandatory-sentencing parole-abolition sentencing-discretion Whether the abolition of parole in Arizona creates a mandatory life-without-parole sentence that violates the Eighth Amendment when imposed on a juven…
22-6023 Tonatihu Aguilar v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2022-11-08 Denied criminal-procedure eighth-amendment juvenile-offender juvenile-sentencing life-without-parole mandatory-sentencing miller-v-alabama parole-abolition sentencing-reform When a state abolishes its parole system, does it create a mandatory life-without-parole sentence that, when imposed on a juvenile homicide offender, …
22-5961 Richard Rojas v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry Ninth Circuit 2022-11-01 Denied administrative-law civil-procedure civil-rights due-process equal-protection standing Whether the court erred in denying relief
22-5889 Michael Paul Jessup v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2022-10-24 Denied 8th-amendment constitutional-law criminal-procedure eighth-amendment juvenile-offenders juvenile-sentencing life-without-parole mandatory-sentencing parole-abolition sentencing When a state abolishes its parole system, does it create a mandatory life-without-parole sentence that, when imposed on a juvenile homicide offender, …