In a scathingly worded 34-page concurring opinion, Pennsylvania Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille has accused lawyers from the capital habeas unit of the Federal Defender Office of engaging in "abusive" litigation tactics that are designed to create delay in order to pursue a "global strategy to obstruct capital punishment in Pennsylvania at all costs."
Castille’s anger in Commonwealth v. Spotz is also aimed at the federal judiciary which, he complains, has funded the Federal Defender Office in Philadelphia to work not only on death penalty litigation in the federal courts, but to begin that work by filing collateral appeals in the Pennsylvania courts.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
