Burke v. Hardy et al

Filing 8

WRITTEN Opinion entered by the Honorable Edmond E. Chang on 2/9/2012: For the reasons in the Statement below, the respondent is ordered to answer the petition or otherwise plead within twenty-one days of the date of this order. The petitioners motions for appointment of counsel (document nos. 4 and 5 ) are denied as premature. Mailed notice (For further detail see Written Opinion)(nf, )

Order Form (01/2005)

United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois
Name of Assigned Judge
or Magistrate Judge

EDMOND E. CHANG

CASE NUMBER

11 C 6220

CASE
TITLE

Sitting Judge if Other
than Assigned Judge

DATE

February 9, 2012

U.S. ex rel. John Burke (#A-82609) vs. Warden Marcus Hardy

DOCKET ENTRY TEXT:

For the reasons in the Statement below, the respondent is ordered to answer the petition or otherwise plead within
twenty-one days of the date of this order. The petitioner’s motions for appointment of counsel [document nos.
4 and 5] are denied as premature.

O

[For further details see text below.]

Docketing to mail notices.

STATEMENT
John Burke, an Illinois state prisoner, has filed a pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to
28 U.S.C. § 2254. The petitioner challenges his conviction for armed robbery on the grounds that: (1) the State
failed to prove all of the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt; and (2) trial counsel was ineffective
in multiple respects. The petitioner has paid the statutory filing fee, as directed. See Minute Order of October
24, 2011.
The petitioner indicates that he has exhausted state court remedies with respect to the claims raised in his
federal habeas petition; furthermore, he appears to have filed his petition in a timely manner. Accordingly, the
respondent is ordered to answer the petition or otherwise plead within twenty-one days of the date of this order.
This preliminary order to respond does not, of course, preclude the State from making whatever waiver,
exhaustion or timeliness arguments it may wish to present.
The petitioner is instructed to file all future papers concerning this action with the Clerk of Court in care
of the Prisoner Correspondent. The petitioner must provide the court with the original plus a judge’s copy
(including a complete copy of any exhibits) of every document filed. In addition, the petitioner must send an
exact copy of any court filing to the Chief, Criminal Appeals Division, Attorney General’s Office, 100 West
Randolph Street, 12th Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60601. Every document filed by the petitioner must include a
(CONTINUED)
mjm

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STATEMENT (continued)
certificate of service stating to whom exact copies were sent and the date of mailing. Any paper that is sent directly
to the judge or that otherwise fails to comply with these instructions may be disregarded by the court or returned
to the petitioner.
The petitioner’s motions for appointment of counsel are denied at this time as premature. Counsel must
be appointed in a habeas corpus proceeding only if an evidentiary hearing is needed or if interests of justice so
require. See Rule 8(c), Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases. Whether the interests of justice require appointment
of counsel in this case cannot be determined until after the court has had an opportunity to review and consider the
respondent’s answer to the petition.

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