Tharpe v. Sellers, Warden
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 8, 2018 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Decided
- January 8, 2018
- Term
- October Term 2017
- Vote
- 6–3
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
PER CURIAM. Petitioner Keith Tharpe moved to reopen his federal habeas corpus proceedings regarding his claim that the Georgia jury that convicted him of murder included a white juror, Barney Gattie, who was biased against Tharpe because he is black. See Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 60(b)(6). The District Court denied the motion on the ground that, among other things, Tharpe's claim was procedurally defaulted in state court. The District Court also noted that Tharpe could not overcome that procedural default because he had failed to produce any clear and convincing evidence contradicting the state court's determination that Gattie's presence on the jury did not prejudice him. See Tharpe v. Warden, No. 5:10-cv-433 (MD Ga., Sept. 5, 2017), App. B to Pet. for Cert. 19. Tharpe sought a certificate of appealability (COA). The Eleventh Circuit denied his COA application after deciding that jurists of reason could not dispute that the District Court's procedural ruling was correct. See Tharpe v. Warden, 2017 WL 4250413, *3 (C.A.11, Sept. 21, 2017). The Eleventh Circuit's decision, as we read it, was based solely on its conclusion, rooted in the state court's factfinding, that Tharpe had failed to show prejudice in connection with his procedurally defaulted claim, i.e., that Tharpe had "failed to demonstrate that Barney Gattie's behavior 'had substantial and injurious effect or influence in…
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