Winfield v. Dorethy

Dist. Ct. erred in resolving defendant’s habeas petition that challenged his attempted murder conviction by using less deferential standard of review than what was required under AEDPA when granting defendant’s habeas petition, after finding that defendant’s appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge whether independent evidence sufficiently corroborated defendant’s written confession. While govt. had agreed with defendant that Dist. Ct. could use less deferential standard and Dist. Ct. found that govt. was barred from rescinding said concession, Ct. of Appeals found that AEDPA’s deferential standard regarding state-court’s resolution of claimed violation of federal law could not be waived by parties in habeas proceeding challenging said resolution. Thus, remand was required for Dist. Ct.’s reconsideration of defendant’s habeas petition under appropriate AEDPA standard of review.