San Diego Criminal Lawyers Blog
U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judges Jay S. Bybee, a George W. Bush appointee, and Stephen Reinhardt, appointed by President Carter, are expressing their frustrations in a California Supreme Court ruling that would allow a state prisoner to challenge his detention in federal court. The case, Freddy Curial v. California dealt with legal deadlines, and the appellate panel on the 9th Circuit found itself having to deduce why the state’s supreme court rejected the prisoner’s habeas corpus filing. In that case, the prisoner was sentenced to life without parole. The lower state court rejected his petition for habeas corpus due to a procedural technicality- a missed legal deadline. His rejection, written by state judge, did not even state the reason why the petition was denied.
It is reported that the state Supreme Court system is overwhelmed by legal challenges from inmates each year, and ends up deciding most of the cases with one paragraph summary rulings citing almost no legal authority. This frustrates the federal judges from the federal court system who have to later review them. However, to complicate things even more, recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have held that federal courts must defer to state judges except for limited circumstances.
The Court System and the California Appeals Procedure Explained