United States Fourth Circuit

In this case, defendant pleaded no contest to one count each of carnal knowledge and soliciting the production of child pornography, pursuant to a plea agreement that did not include a waiver of appellate or post-conviction rights. He was sentenced to thirty-five years, and thereafter, defendant filed a habeas corpus petition alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. The district court's dismissal of defendant's petition for a writ of habeas corpus is reversed and remanded for further proceedings, where: 1) defendant properly exhausted his state remedies; 2) the state court did not adjudicate defendant's claim on the merits, and so the district court owed no deference to the state court's denial of defendant's petition; and 3) the district court applied the wrong standard in deciding whether to hold an evidentiary hearing.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/03/2015
• Published 03/03/2015

Judges

• Diaz

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel