Trevino v. Thaler, No. 11-10189; U.S. Supreme Court; opinion by Breyer, J.; dissents by Roberts, C.J., and Scalia, J.; decided May 28, 2013. On certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
In Martinez v. Ryan, 566 U.S. 1, this Court held that "a procedural default will not bar a federal habeas court from hearing a substantial claim of ineffective assistance at trial if, in the [State's] initial-review collateral proceeding, there was no counsel or counsel in that proceeding was ineffective." Martinez regarded a prisoner from Arizona, where state procedural law required the prisoner to raise the claim during his first state collateral review proceeding. Ibid. This case regards a prisoner from Texas, where state procedural law does not require a defendant to raise his ineffective-assistance-of-trial-counsel claim on collateral review. Rather, Texas law appears to permit a prisoner to raise such a claim on direct review, but the structure and design of the Texas system make it virtually impossible for a prisoner to do so. The question presented in this case is whether, despite this difference, the rule set out in Martinez applies in Texas.