Court Opinion

ID: 9496681
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 16:32:18.895322+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:57:43.396368
License: Public Domain

COLE, Circuit Judge,
concurring in the judgment.
CONCURRENCE
I concur only in the judgment reached by the majority and agree that Lopez’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus must be denied. The crucial inquiry in this case is whether the state’s decision to deny Lopez counsel with respect to his motion to reopen an appeal was contrary to clearly established federal law as determined by the United States Supreme Court. Because the Supreme Court has not established that criminal defendants are entitled to counsel in a motion to reopen an appeal nor that such a motion is part of a direct appeal, Lopez is not entitled to habeas relief pursuant to the AEDPA. Absent clearly established law by the Supreme Court with respect to those issues, the state court was not bound by this Circuit’s characterization of Rule 26(B) proceedings as part of a criminal defendant’s direct appeal.