Stokes v. Byars

Filing 116

ORDER denying the request to hold Ground Eight in abeyance. Signed by Magistrate Judge Shiva V Hodges on 6/29/2017. (mwal)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Sammie Louis Stokes, #5069,
Petitioner,
vs.
Bryan P. Stirling, Director, South
Carolina Department of Corrections;
Joseph McFadden, Lieber Correctional
Institution,
Respondents.

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C/A No.: 1:16-845-RBH-SVH

ORDER DENYING STAY
OF GROUND EIGHT

Petitioner Sammie Louis Stokes is an inmate at the Lieber Correctional Institution
of the South Carolina Department of Corrections who filed a petition for a writ of habeas
corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. [ECF Nos. 22, 51]. In a submission to this Court,
ECF No. 96 at 15 n.4, Petitioner requested that his claim in Ground Eight be held in
abeyance pending the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Davila v. Davis, 2017
WL 125677 (Jan. 13, 2017). In Ground Eight, Petitioner claims ineffective assistance of
appellate counsel for failure to raise an issue pursuant to Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79
(1986). Petitioner has conceded that Ground Eight is procedurally defaulted, but he
asserts that he can “overcome the procedural default by demonstrating his postconviction counsel was ineffective and that his claim of ineffective assistance of appellate
counsel has ‘some merit.’” ECF No. 96 at 15 (quoting Martinez v. Ryan, 566 U.S. 1
(2012)).

The United States Supreme Court has now issued an opinion in Davila v. Davis,
2017 WL 2722418 (June 26, 2017), declining to extend the Martinez exception to allow a
federal court to hear a substantial, but procedurally defaulted, claim of appellate
ineffectiveness when a prisoner’s state post-conviction counsel provides ineffective
assistance by failing to raise it. In light of the issuance of the Davila decision, the
undersigned denies the request to hold Ground Eight in abeyance.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

June 29, 2017
Columbia, South Carolina

Shiva V. Hodges
United States Magistrate Judge