Ward v. Hobb, No. 12-3586 (8th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff pleaded guilty to rape and second-degree sexual abuse in Arkansas state court. After plaintiff petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. 2254, the district court dismissed the petition with prejudice but then granted a certificate of appealability (COA) on the question of procedural default based on his ineffective-assistance of counsel claims. The court concluded that the COA was improvidently granted on the preliminary question of procedural default alone because plaintiff made no substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right on the merits. The court saw nothing in the record to support a debatable conclusion that but for counsel's alleged errors, plaintiff would have proceeded to trial. Accordingly, the court dismissed the appeal.
Court Description: Prisoner case - habeas. Where the district court ruled Ward had procedurally defaulted his ineffective-assistance of counsel claims by failing to raise them in a petition under Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37, the district court erred in granting a certificate of appealability on the question of procedural default because even assuming the federal claims were not procedurally barred, Ward failed to make a substantial showing of a denial of a constitutional right on the merits.
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.