Did you know about the lawyer who:

  • Told their client they could not testify because their criminal record and its details would be admissible where the law was directly to the contrary;
  • Let the jury know their client “lawyered up” and sat idly by while the prosecutor argued that as proof of guilt;
  • Filed a pleading averring that after thorough review there were no valid issues for post-conviction relief when in fact the defendant had pleaded guilty to and been sentenced for a crime that did not exist;
  • Failed to consult with medical experts who could have shown that death did not occur as the prosecution alleged;
  • Mis-read a DNA report and failed to recognize that it applied to a different item of clothing than that testified to at trial;
  • The law creates a presumption that attorneys are effective, but whether due to sloth, case overloads, ignorance or over-confidence,  lawyers make mistakes—indeed serious mistakes—on a daily basis in criminal cases. Unlike surgeons and airline pilots, they lack checklists for quality assurance, and there is no resource center available for a call or an assist.

A recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court ignores that reality and limits federal habeas review in a way that will tolerate mistakes even when innocence is at issue; and unless Pennsylvania law is corrected and resources are provided, the tolerance for error will prevail.

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