Hedgepeth v. Madden
- Beth Freeman
- 5:20-cv-00858
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In Hedgepeth v. Madden, Judge Freeman denied a renewed stay and denied Hedgepeth’s request for appointed counsel in his federal habeas case.
Hasson Hedgepeth’s federal habeas case was not stayed, and his request for appointed counsel was denied without prejudice. R. Madden remained the respondent, and the case proceeded toward the respondent’s answer.
What happened
In Hedgepeth v. Madden, Hasson Hedgepeth, a state prisoner representing himself, challenged his state conviction in a federal petition. The court had previously found that some claims had not yet been presented to the state courts, but later treated the original petition and additional exhibits as the operative petition.
Hedgepeth asked to pause the case while state resentencing proceedings under Senate Bill 620 continued. The court denied that request because resentencing was not an issue in the federal case. The court also denied his request for appointed counsel, while leaving open the possibility of reconsidering that decision if an evidentiary hearing later became necessary.
Judge Beth Labson Freeman signed the July 14, 2021 order. The respondent’s answer was due August 31, 2021, and Hedgepeth was not required to take further action until that answer was filed.
The detailed version
- Hedgepeth v. Madden · No. 5:20-cv-00858
- Beth Freeman
- July 14, 2021
Background
Hasson Hedgepeth, a state prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging his state conviction. His claims were that the trial court failed to instruct the jury on self-defense, sudden quarrel, or heat of passion, and that appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise the instructional-error issue on appeal.
The court had previously dismissed the petition with permission to amend because Hedgepeth indicated that a request for a new trial based on instructional error was pending in state court. The court concluded that he had not exhausted all of his state-court remedies before filing the federal case. Hedgepeth later stated that his claims had been exhausted. The court treated the original petition and later-filed exhibits as the operative petition and determined that no additional filing from Hedgepeth was necessary at that point.
Renewed Motion for Stay
Hedgepeth renewed his request to stay, or pause, the federal case while state resentencing proceedings under Senate Bill 620 continued. The court stated that resentencing was not an issue before it and found no need to delay the federal case. It therefore denied the renewed motion for a stay. The court also found that Hedgepeth’s request for the state courts to transmit records was unnecessary because he had already provided those records.
Motion for Appointment of Counsel
Hedgepeth also moved for appointment of counsel. The court explained that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel does not apply to federal habeas proceedings. Unless an evidentiary hearing is required, appointing counsel is left to the district court’s discretion. Because an evidentiary hearing did not appear necessary at that stage, the court denied without prejudice the motion for appointment of counsel. The court stated that it could reconsider the issue on its own if it later found that an evidentiary hearing was necessary after considering the merits of Hedgepeth’s claims.
Next Steps and Disposition
The respondent’s answer to the court’s order to show cause was due August 31, 2021. Hedgepeth was not required to take further action until the answer was filed, after which he would have thirty days to file a response. The order terminated Docket Nos. 25 and 26.
Judge Beth Labson Freeman issued the order on July 14, 2021. The order addressed the stay and counsel motions; it did not decide the merits of Hedgepeth’s habeas claims.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.