| 25-5317 |
Stephen Corey Bryant v. Joel Anderson, Acting Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2025-08-11 |
Denied |
certificate-of-appealability habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance martinez-rule post-conviction-counsel procedural-default |
When a district court dismisses a federal habeas petition, a circuit court must issue a certificate of appealability for any claim in the petition who… |
| 24-7439 |
In Re Terron Dizzley |
|
2025-06-17 |
Denied |
burden-of-proof criminal-trial double-jeopardy fifth-amendment judicial-discretion trial-court-jurisdiction |
Did the trial court exceed its jurisdiction in violation of the Fifth Amendment's Double Jeopardy Clause by trying Mr. Dizzley a second time for the c… |
| 24A1231 |
Stephen C. Stanko v. Joel E. Anderson, Interim Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2025-06-12 |
Presumed Complete |
None |
|
| 24A1150 |
Stephen Corey Bryant v. Joel Anderson, Acting Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2025-05-27 |
Presumed Complete |
capital-punishment constitutional-rights death-penalty fourth-circuit habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance |
Whether the Fourth Circuit's denial of a death-sentenced prisoner's appeal violates his constitutional rights to effective assistance of counsel or du… |
| 24-6933 |
Mikal Mahdi v. Bryan Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections |
South Carolina |
2025-04-08 |
Denied |
capital-punishment childhood-trauma death-penalty ineffective-assistance mitigating-evidence sixth-amendment |
Whether a capital defendant's Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel is violated when trial counsel fails to fully investigate and p… |
| 24-6420 |
Stephen C. Stanko v. Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2025-01-29 |
Denied |
capital-punishment expert-services habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel traumatic-brain-injury waiver-of-counsel |
Does 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) require a certificate of appealability for review of an order prematurely granting summary judgment against a habeas pe… |
| 24-6376 |
Marion Bowman, Jr. v. Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
South Carolina |
2025-01-23 |
Denied |
capital-sentencing constitutional-rights criminal-trial due-process ineffective-assistance racial-bias |
Did trial counsel provide prejudicially deficient assistance of counsel by repeatedly introducing and amplifying noxious racial stereotypes about Bowm… |
| 24A491 |
Stephen C. Stanko v. Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2024-11-18 |
Presumed Complete |
conflict-of-interest expert-services habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance trial-counsel waiver |
Whether an actual conflict of trial counsel that adversely affects representation can be validly waived without fully advising the client of the conse… |
| 24-5668 |
Richard Bernard Moore v. Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections |
South Carolina |
2024-09-30 |
Denied |
batson-challenge equal-protection jury-selection peremptory-challenges racial-discrimination voir-dire |
Whether the Supreme Court of South Carolina failed to apply the Batson factors in determining racial discrimination in jury selection when empaneling … |
| 24-5603 |
Freddie Owens v. Bryan Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2024-09-20 |
Denied |
due-process execution-methods informed-choice lethal-injection procedural-rights state-action |
Whether South Carolina's refusal to provide information about execution drugs violates a death row inmate's due process rights when choosing a method … |
| 23-7641 |
Steven Vernon Bixby v. Bryan P. Stirling, Commissioner, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2024-06-05 |
Denied |
counsel-abandonment federal-procedure habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance procedural-defect rule-60b |
Whether there is any remedy under Rule 60(b) for functional abandonment by counsel in a federal habeas proceeding, or whether there is no remedy for e… |
| 23-7596 |
Andre Tayson Boone v. Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections |
Fourth Circuit |
2024-05-30 |
Denied |
appeal civil-procedure constitutional-analysis due-process judicial-review jurisdiction legal-interpretation procedural-rules standing statutory-provisions time-extension |
Whether the courts erred in dismissing the petitioner's appeal of the district court's denial of their motion for an extension of time to file a notic… |
| 23A868 |
Steven Vernon Bixby v. Bryan P. Stirling, Commissioner, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2024-03-28 |
Presumed Complete |
capital-case certiorari-extension constitutional-review death-penalty fourth-circuit habeas-corpus |
Whether the Fourth Circuit applied the correct legal standard in reviewing a death-sentenced prisoner's habeas corpus petition challenging the constit… |
| 23A247 |
Clark D. Thomas v. McKendley Newton, Warden, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2023-09-15 |
Presumed Complete |
adequate-staffing deliberate-indifference eighth-amendment farmer-v-brennan habeas-corpus-filing-deadline prison-conditions |
Whether prison officials' deliberate indifference to systemic staffing deficiencies that substantially increase the risk of serious harm to inmates vi… |
| 22-1234 |
Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. v. Sammie Louis Stokes |
Fourth Circuit |
2023-06-23 |
Denied |
aedpa default-rule federal-appellate-procedure federal-courts habeas-corpus judicial-review procedural-default standard-of-review statutory-interpretation strickland-standard strickland-v-washington |
Whether the Fourth Circuit defied the Supreme Court's remand instruction and circumvented 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(2)'s limitations on federal court author… |
| 22-6772 |
Marion Bowman, Jr. v. Bryan P. Stirling, Commissioner, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2023-02-14 |
Denied |
alternative-perpetrator brady-materiality brady-v-maryland capital-sentencing exculpatory-evidence giglio-v-united-states habeas-corpus kyles-v-whitley materiality prosecutorial-misconduct witness-credibility |
Was the Fourth Circuit's finding of no materiality of the suppressed evidence inconsistent with this Court's clearly established precedents? |
| 22-6690 |
Steven Vernon Bixby v. Bryan P. Stirling, Commissioner, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2023-02-02 |
Denied |
certificate-of-appealability death-penalty federal-courts federal-review habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-counsel ineffective-assistance-of-counsel mental-illness |
Whether 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1), F-R.A.P. 22(b) and this Court's decisions in Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322 (2003), Barefoot v. Estelle, 463 U.S.… |
| 22A492 |
Marion Bowman v. Bryan Stirling, Commissioner, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2022-12-06 |
Presumed Complete |
None |
|
| 22A451 |
Steven Bixby v. Bryan Stirling, Commissioner, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2022-11-22 |
Presumed Complete |
None |
|
| 22-5646 |
Fred Freeman v. Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2022-09-22 |
Denied |
8th-amendment appellate-jurisdiction civil-rights classification-error court-of-appeals due-process equal-protection judicial-discretion procedural-review qualified-immunity sovereign-immunity standing |
Did Court of Appeals err in ruling on disability claims under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act? |
| 22-5536 |
Mikal D. Mahdi v. Bryan P. Stirling, Commissioner, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2022-09-08 |
Denied |
capital-mitigation ineffective-assistance-counsel ineffective-assistance-of-counsel investigation-into-mitigating-evidence mental-health-background mitigating-evidence post-conviction-review sixth-amendment traumatic-background trial-investigation |
Did the state post-conviction court misapply this Court's Sixth Amendment precedent when it held that Mikal Mahdi's trial attorneys reasonably ended t… |
| 22-5476 |
John R. Wood v. Bryan Stirling, Commissioner, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2022-08-30 |
Denied |
capital-punishment fourth-circuit-review habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel prejudice prejudice-analysis prison-conditions strickland-standard Wilson-v-Sellers |
Whether the state court unreasonably applied Strickland-v-Washington |
| 22-5014 |
Willie Johnson v. Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2022-07-01 |
Denied |
case-law civil-rights constitution constitutional-interpretation dismissal district-court due-process election federal-courts judicial-procedure legal-standards standing |
Whether the District Court for the District of South Carolina erred in dismissing the case on the ground that the petitioners lacked standing to chall… |
| 22A2 |
Mikal D. Mahdi v. Bryan Stirling, Commissioner, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2022-06-30 |
Presumed Complete |
None |
|
| 21A837 |
John R. Wood v. Bryan Stirling, Commissioner, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2022-06-17 |
Presumed Complete |
None |
|
| 21A437 |
Willie Johnson v. Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2022-02-22 |
Presumed Complete |
None |
|
| 21-1044 |
Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. v. James Nathaniel Bryant, III |
Fourth Circuit |
2022-01-26 |
Denied |
capital-punishment capital-sentencing due-process fact-finding federal-review habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance state-court-deference |
In review of a claim fully adjudicated in state court, did the district court violate 28-usc-2254, finality, federalism |
| 21-938 |
Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. v. Sammie Louis Stokes |
Fourth Circuit |
2021-12-23 |
GVR |
capital-punishment fourth-circuit habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel mitigation-evidence prejudice-analysis procedural-default strategic-decision strickland-standard strickland-v-washington |
Whether the Fourth Circuit violated Strickland v. Washington in its prejudice analysis |
| 21-6151 |
Gary DuBose Terry v. Bryan P. Stirling, Commissioner, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2021-11-02 |
Denied |
civil-rights due-process habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance martinez-exception martinez-v-ryan post-conviction-review summary-judgment trial-counsel |
Whether a federal habeas court may summarily dismiss a petition alleging a substantial but defaulted claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel … |
| 21-5962 |
Charles Nemon Vandross v. Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2021-10-13 |
Denied |
access-to-courts appointment-of-counsel civil-rights due-process standing supervision-of-lower-courts |
Whether the USCRY has denied Petitioner access to the courts |
| 21A61 |
Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. v. Sammie Louis Stokes |
Fourth Circuit |
2021-10-07 |
Presumed Complete |
None |
|
| 20-7550 |
John Roosevelt Baccus v. South Carolina Department of Corrections |
Fourth Circuit |
2021-03-24 |
Dismissed |
civil-procedure civil-rights due-process fourth-amendment search-and-seizure standing |
Whether the court below erred in dismissing Petitioner's claims without adjudicating the merits |
| 20-975 |
Freddie Owens v. Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2021-01-22 |
Denied |
certificate-of-appealability constitutional-claim constitutional-rights federal-appeals-court habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-counsel ineffective-assistance-of-counsel martinez-standard martinez-v-ryan procedural-default |
Whether the standard for determining if an underlying constitutional claim is 'substantial' under Martinez v. Ryan is the same as the standard for obt… |
| 20-582 |
Shadreck Kifayatuthelezi v. South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2020-11-03 |
Denied |
civil-rights compensation eighth-amendment fourteenth-amendment incarceration qualified-immunity release-date seventh-amendment state-law |
Whether the Eighth Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, and/or state law provide a source of compensation when an inmate is incarcerated past his lawf… |
| 20-6166 |
Brad Keith Sigmon v. Bryan Stirling, Commissioner, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2020-10-29 |
Denied |
capital-punishment capital-sentencing cumulative-evidence evidentiary-hearing ineffective-assistance-of-counsel martinez-claim martinez-v-ryan mitigation-evidence sixth-amendment |
Whether the Fourth Circuit violated this Court's directives on the Sixth Amendment's right to effective counsel when it rejected Sigmon's Martinez evi… |
| 20-5570 |
Richard Bernard Moore v. Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2020-09-02 |
Denied |
adjudicated-on-the-merits fair-presentation fair-presentation-doctrine habeas habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-counsel martinez-rule martinez-v-ryan new-evidence procedural-default state-post-conviction-review |
In determining whether a claim has been fairly presented to, and 'adjudicated on the merits' by, the state courts for § 2254(d) purposes, must a feder… |
| 19-8130 |
Raqib Abdul Al-Amin v. Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
South Carolina |
2020-03-27 |
Denied |
actual-innocence constitutional-challenge federal-constitutional-guarantees federal-guarantees habeas-corpus life-without-parole manifest-miscarriage-of-justice post-conviction-relief state-court-conviction |
Correcting-erroneous-denial-of-extraordinary-writ |
| 18A1292 |
Steven L. Barnes v. South Carolina Department of Corrections |
South Carolina |
2019-06-11 |
Presumed Complete |
certiorari due-process fundamental-rights prison-officials supreme-court time-extension |
Whether a state supreme court's denial of a prisoner's motion for an extension of time to file a petition for writ of certiorari violates due process … |
| 18-1495 |
Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. v. Charles Christopher Williams |
Fourth Circuit |
2019-05-31 |
Denied |
aedpa aedpa-review aedpa-standard capital-case capital-punishment capital-sentencing double-edged-evidence double-edged-sword fetal-alcohol-syndrome future-dangerousness habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel strickland-standard strickland-v-washington |
Whether a state court is objectively unreasonable under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1) in concluding a capital defendant was not prejudiced by counsel's failu… |
| 18-6110 |
Mikal Mahdi v. South Carolina |
South Carolina |
2018-09-28 |
Denied |
appointment-of-counsel capital-punishment constitutional-rights criminal-procedure death-penalty death-sentence habeas-corpus indigent-counsel ineffective-assistance-of-counsel post-conviction-relief procedural-history right-to-counsel sixth-amendment south-carolina-supreme-court state-court |
Whether the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel was violated when the state post-conviction court failed to appoint counsel for M… |
| 24A409 |
Richard Bernard Moore v. Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections |
South Carolina |
|
Denied |
batson-challenge death-penalty equal-protection jury-selection peremptory-strikes racial-discrimination |
Whether the State's peremptory strikes of Black jurors in a capital murder trial violated the Equal Protection Clause under Batson v. Kentucky by impe… |
| 24A723 |
Marion Bowman, Jr. v. Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections, et al. |
South Carolina |
|
Denied |
death-penalty ineffective-assistance racial-bias sixth-amendment strickland-standard trial-counsel |
Whether a criminal defendant's Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel is violated when trial counsel introduces racially prejudicial… |
| 24A956 |
Mikal Mahdi v. Bryan Stirling, Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections |
South Carolina |
|
Denied |
None |
|