United States Third Circuit

Dismissal of Rule 60(b)(6) motion for relief from an earlier order dismissing a habeas petition is vacated and remanded, where: 1) petitioner's original habeas petition was dismissed due to his post-conviction counsel's failure to pursue all meritorious claims, the latter of which were procedurally defaulted; 2) the Supreme Court decision in Martinez created a major exception to habeas review precedent by allowing post-conviction counsel’s failure to pursue meritorious claims to excuse a procedural default of such claims; 3) petitioner's 60(b)(6) motion for relief was brought within a reasonable timeframe following the Martinez decision; 4) 60(b)(6) relief requires extraordinary circumstances; 5) the petitioner put forth several factors for extraordinary circumstances, including but not limited to the capital nature of his claim and the change in decisional law created by the Martinez decision; and 6) the District Court improperly adopted a per se rule that a change in decisional law is inadequate to invoke relief under 60(b)(6) and failed to consider other factors.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/07/2014
• Published 08/07/2014

Judges

• Barry

Court

• United States Third Circuit

Counsel