Jacob Alexzander Woods v. Ronald Oliver

Summary

This Appointment and Scheduling Order appoints the Federal Public Defender to represent Jacob Alexzander Woods in his federal habeas proceedings. It establishes deadlines for an amended petition, the respondents’ response, and the reply, and sets procedures for raising procedural defenses and filing state-court records and exhibits.

Holdings

1. The Federal Public Defender, through Ebise Bayisa and Shelly Richter, is appointed to represent Woods under 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(a)(2)(B) in all federal proceedings related to the matter, including appeals or certiorari proceedings, unless permitted to withdraw.
2. Woods may file an amended petition or seek other appropriate relief within 90 days after entry of the order, but that deadline and any extension do not constitute a finding concerning expiration of the federal limitation period or the availability of tolling.
3. Respondents must raise all procedural defenses to a counseled amended petition together in a single consolidated motion to dismiss; procedural defenses omitted from that motion may be subject to waiver and may not be combined with the merits in an answer, except for dismissal of clearly meritless unexhausted claims under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(2).

Questions Presented

1. Whether counsel should be appointed for Woods under 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(a)(2)(B).
2. What deadlines and filing procedures should govern an amended federal habeas petition and the respondents' response.
3. How respondents must present procedural defenses, including exhaustion, and whether such defenses must be consolidated in a motion to dismiss rather than embedded in an answer.

Disposition

other