Court Opinion

ID: 9521210
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 02:00:31.708803+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:48:03.286941
License: Public Domain

WATFORD, Circuit Judge,
concurring in the judgment:
I agree with the majority that we should grant petitioner’s motion to remand the case to the district court, so that the district court can determine in the first instance whether petitioner’s procedural default may be excused under Martinez v. Ryan,—U.S.-, 132 S.Ct. 1309, 182 L.Ed.2d 272 (2012). As the dueling opinions in this case confirm, assessing whether petitioner’s ineffective assistance of counsel claims have “some merit” under Martinez, id. at 1318, requires a highly fact- and record-intensive analysis. Allowing the district court to undertake that analysis first is generally the more prudent course. A remand in such circumstances does not merely conserve judicial resources, although that is a particularly important consideration when, as here, we are convened as an en banc court. It also helps to improve the quality of our review process by providing an initial determination that may narrow the bounds of disagreement, and that at a minimum enables the parties to articulate their positions more effectively based on a common point of departure. Since this is a court of review, “not first view,” Holland v. Florida, 560 U.S. 631, 130 S.Ct. 2549, 2565, 177 L.Ed.2d 130 (2010) (internal quotation marks omitted), I see no need at this point for us to say anything more than that petitioner’s motion to remand is granted.