Defendant was entitled to reconsideration of his habeas petition that challenged his 30-year sentence on Indiana firearm charge, where defendant contended that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to raise legal issue regarding impropriety of his sentence. Record showed that Dist. Ct., which had dismissed instant habeas petition, was also judge that imposed defendant’s sentence in state court. As such, instant denial of defendant’s habeas petition raised issue under 28 USC section 455(a) as to whether Dist. Ct. could be impartial when assessing validity of her own sentencing decision, under circumstances where original sentence was imposed in state court, and habeas petition was resolved in federal court. Ct. also overruled Balistrieri, 779 F.2d 1191, that had found that issues under section 455(a) could only be raised by filing mandamus petition.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Criminal Court
Habeas Corpus