Drug Defendant Wins Appeal Waiver Dispute at Supreme Court (1)

A criminal defendant arguing his lawyer had to file a notice of appeal even though the defendant signed an appeal waiver won his U.S. Supreme Court case.

It was Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.'s second vote of the day for a criminal defendant, having cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of an Alabama death row inmate with dementia.

Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh joined Roberts in signing onto Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s 6-3 majority opinion, siding with Gilberto Garza Jr.'s ineffective assistance of counsel claim.

“We are very pleased with the Court’s resolution of this case, which reflects a clear ...