Gonzales Samayoa v. Davis, No. 18-56047 (9th Cir. 2019)
Annotate this Case
18 U.S.C. 3599 permits federal appointment of additional counsel to represent a California death-row prisoner who is seeking state clemency where the State of California also provides for state clemency counsel. The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's denial of petitioner's motion for the appointment of additional counsel from the Federal Public Defender Services for the District of Arizona (FPD-AZ). The panel held that the availability of state-appointed clemency counsel does not prevent the district court from appointing additional clemency
counsel under section 3599 during post-habeas proceedings. Therefore, the panel remanded for the district court to determine whether appointment of additional counsel to represent petitioner is appropriate under the statute.
Court Description: Appointment of Counsel. The panel reversed the district court’s denial of a motion, brought by a California death-row prisoner seeking state clemency, for the appointment of additional counsel from the Federal Public Defender Services for the District of Arizona, and remanded. The panel held that the availability of state-appointed clemency counsel does not prevent the district court from appointing additional clemency counsel under 18 U.S.C. § 3599 for purposes of state clemency proceedings. The panel remanded for the district court to determine whether appointment of additional counsel to represent petitioner is appropriate under the statute. Dissenting, Judge Watford wrote that the majority’s apparent reading of 18 U.S.C. § 3599(a)(2), which requires that an inmate show that he is “financially unable to obtain adequate representation,” as requiring petitioner to show only that he is indigent, cannot be squared with Harbison v. Bell, 556 U.S. 180 (2009), where the Supreme Court declared that an inmate’s state-furnished representation may render him ineligible for appointment of counsel under § 3599, notwithstanding his indigency. SAMAYOA V. DAVIS 3
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.