Harris v. Reed, Warden, et al. (489 U.S. 255)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided February 22, 1989 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 489 U.S. 255 · 109 S. Ct. 1038
- Decided
- February 22, 1989
- Term
- October Term 1988
- Vote
- 8–1
- Majority author
- Justice Blackmun
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court. In this case, we consider whether the ‘“plain statement’ rule” of Michigan v. Long, 463 U. S. 1032, 1042, and n. 7 (1983), applies in a case on federal habeas review as well as in a case on direct review in this Court. We hold that it does. I Petitioner Warren Lee Harris was convicted in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill., of murder. On direct appeal, petitioner challenged only the sufficiency of the evidence. The Appellate Court of Illinois, by an unpublished order, affirmed the conviction. App. 5; see 71 Ill. App. 3d 1113, 392 N. E. 2d 1386 (1979). Petitioner then returned to the Circuit Court of Cook County and filed a petition for postconviction relief, alleging that his trial counsel had rendered ineffective assistance in several respects, including his failure to call alibi witnesses. The court dismissed the petition without an evidentiary hearing. The Appellate Court of Illinois, in another unpublished order, again affirmed. App. 9. In its order, the Appellate Court referred to the “well-settled” principle of Illinois law that “those [issues] which could have been presented [on direct appeal], but were not, are considered waived.” Id., at 12. The court found that, “except for the alibi witnesses,” petitioner’s ineffective-assistance allegations “could have been raised in [his] direct appeal.” Ibid. The court,…
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