Chapman v. Mississippi
Annotate this CaseRichard Chapman was serving a life sentence in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. He never had a direct appeal (through no apparent fault of his own), and his trial record allegedly has been destroyed. While Chapman filed multiple motions for post-conviction relief (PCR), no appellate court has ever addressed the merits of his claims, despite potential violations of his constitutional rights. Under these peculiar circumstances, the Supreme Court found that, in the interests of justice, Chapman was entitled to an evidentiary hearing so that he and the State have an opportunity to reconstruct his trial record.
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