Avron J. Arave, Warden v. Maxwell Hoffman (552 U.S. 117)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 7, 2008 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 552 U.S. 117 · 128 S. Ct. 749
- Decided
- January 7, 2008
- Term
- October Term 2007
- Vote
- 9–0
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Per Curiam. Respondent Maxwell Hoffman was convicted óf first-degree murder and sentenced to death. See State v. Hoffman, 123 Idaho 638, 851 P. 2d 934 (1993). Hoffman sought federal habeas relief on the grounds that, inter alia, his counsel had been ineffective during both pretrial plea bargaining and the sentencing phase of his trial. The District Court, finding that Hoffman had received ineffective assistance of counsel during sentencing but not during plea bargaining, granted Hoffman’s federal habeas petition in part and ordered the State of Idaho to resentence him. Civ. Action No. 94-0200-S-BLW (Mar. 30, 2002), App. to Pet. for Cert. 38, 65. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the District Court’s decision regarding ineffective assistance of counsel during sentencing, but reversed with respect to the ineffective-assistance claim during plea negotiations. 455 F. 3d 926, 942 (2006). The Ninth Circuit thus granted the writ, ordering the District Court to direct the State either to release Hoffman or to “offe[r] [him] a plea agreement with the ‘same material terms’ offered in the original plea agreement.” Id., at 943. The State sought, and we granted, certiorari. Post, p. 1008. Hoffman now abandons his claim that counsel was ineffective during plea bargaining. See Respondent’s Motion to Vacate Decision Below and Dismiss the Cause as Moot. He “no longer seeks…
Excerpt of a 3,135-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.