Petitions to watch | Conference of May 19

In its Conference of May 19, 2016, the Court will consider petitions involving issues such as whether, for federal habeas purposes, California’s procedural rule generally barring review of claims that were available but not raised on direct appeal is an “adequate” state-law ground for rejection of a claim; whether execution of a condemned individual more than three-and-one-half decades after the imposition of a death sentence violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment; and whether a defendant’s Due Process right to a fair trial is secure when a prosecutor with a history of misconduct commits misconduct on several occasions through the defendant’s trial.

15-789

15-797

15-862

15-1193

15-8366