Kavanaugh Says ‘Close’ Call if Bad Lawyering Allows Hearing (1)

Justice Brett Kavanaugh said it’s a “close” call whether people can develop their ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims in federal court if they failed to do so in state court because their state lawyers were ineffective.

How the Supreme Court decides the issue, argued Wednesday, could determine if the Sixth Amendment right to counsel is vindicated in cases across the country and if innocent people are incarcerated and even executed.

David Martinez Ramirez and Barry Jones were convicted of murder and sentenced to death in separate state-court cases. Arizona officials say the pair had the chance to raise ineffective-assistance-of-trial-counsel claims in state postconviction ...