Mayes v. Premo

Brief of Amici Curiae National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, and California Appellate Defense Counsel in Support of Petition for Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc.

Brief filed: 05/23/2014

Documents

Mayes v. Premo

9th Circuit Court of Appeals; Case No. 12-35461

Prior Decision

Decision below No. 3:06-CV-6334-HU, 2012 WL 1969042 (D.Or. May 25, 2012).

Argument(s)

The Sixth Amendment constrains reviewing courts’ harmless error analysis. The majority creates an intra-circuit conflict by endorsing a harmless error analysis based on a hypothetical trial without the error and by crediting the prosecution’s evidence while ignoring its weaknesses. The majority disregards Supreme Court precedent and creates an intra-circuit split in the standards employed to evaluate whether an error was prejudicial.

Author(s)

Tarik S. Adlai, Pasadena, CA; David M. Porter, Sacramento, CA.