At 10 a.m, the Court will hear argument in Waddington v. Sarausad (07-772), on whether, during habeas review, federal courts must accept state court determinations that jury instructions correctly explain state law regarding accomplice liability. Washington Deputy Solicitor General William Collins will argue for the petitioner, and Jeffrey Fisher of Stanford University will argue for the respondent.
At 11 a.m., the Court will hear argument in Hedgpeth v. Pulido (07-544), on whether, during habeas review, federal courts may determine erroneous jury instructions on which the jury may have relied to constitute structural error requiring reversal. California Deputy Attorney General Jeremy Friedlander and Pratik Shah of the Solicitor General’s office will argue for the petitioner, and J. Bradley O’Connell of San Francisco will argue for the respondent.
We will provide links to the transcripts of the arguments as soon as they are available.