Burt v. Titlow (571 U.S. 12)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided November 5, 2013 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 571 U.S. 12 · 134 S. Ct. 10
- Decided
- November 5, 2013
- Term
- October Term 2013
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Alito
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice ALITO delivered the opinion of the Court. When a state prisoner asks a federal court to set aside a sentence due to ineffective assistance of counsel during plea bargaining, our cases require that the federal court use a " 'doubly deferential' " standard of review that gives both the state court and the defense attorney the benefit of the doubt. Cullen v. Pinholster, 563 U.S. ----, ----, 131 S.Ct. 1388, 1403, 179 L.Ed.2d 557 (2011). In this case, the Sixth Circuit failed to apply that doubly deferential standard by refusing to credit a state court's reasonable factual finding and by assuming that counsel was ineffective where the record was silent. Because the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), 110 Stat. 1214, and Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), do not permit federal judges to so casually second-guess the decisions of their state-court colleagues or defense attorneys, the Sixth Circuit's decision must be reversed. I Respondent Titlow and Billie Rogers, respondent's aunt, murdered Billie's husband Don by pouring vodka down his throat and smothering him with a pillow. With help from attorney Richard Lustig, respondent reached an agreement with state prosecutors to testify against Billie, plead guilty to manslaughter, and receive a 7- to 15-year sentence. As confirmed at a plea hearing, Lustig…
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