Ryan v. Hurles to end, new version on the way

The Supreme Court no doubt has expended considerable labor on Ryan v. Hurles since it first started looking at the case last September. The Arizona murder case showed up before the Court at every Conference since then. Perhaps those labors will pay off, but the existing version of the case is coming to an end. A move to dismiss it has been filed, and willbe granted as a routine matter. (For background, see this earlier post.)

Arizona officials, however, plan to file a new appeal, to protest the latest ruling in the case by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. That new decision, officials said in a motion to dismiss the existing petition, apparently made its existing challengemoot.They will file a new petition for review “in the near future,” the motion said.

When thecase returns to the Supreme Court, it will once again raise the judicial bias claim that has been the only issue the Justices were considering. And, officials told the Court, they expect to add a new issue, resulting from the Ninth Circuit’s new opinion, onineffectiveness of defense lawyers at the appellate level. The Ninth Circuit has now expanded a habeas right created for the trial level to the appellate level.