Wainwright v. Torna

Background

Respondent is a prisoner serving several felony convictions that were affirmed by Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal. He asked the Florida Supreme Court to review his case, but that court dismissed the application as untimely after his privately retained lawyer failed to file the required notice on time. The notice was due July 17 and was filed July 18 after a secretary became lost and mailed the papers. The prisoner then filed a federal habeas petition claiming ineffective assistance of counsel.

Reasoning

The central question was whether a retained lawyer’s missed deadline to seek discretionary review in a state high court can support federal habeas relief for ineffective assistance. The Court, citing Ross v. Moffitt, accepted that there is no constitutional right to counsel for discretionary state appeals. Because the respondent had no such right, the majority held his lawyer’s late filing could not amount to constitutionally ineffective assistance, and the District Court correctly denied relief. The Court therefore reversed the Court of Appeals’ contrary decision.

Real world impact

The ruling limits federal habeas remedies when a private attorney misses a deadline for discretionary state review: a missed filing typically only prevents applying for discretionary review and does not automatically entitle a defendant to federal relief. The decision upholds the finality of state procedural rules about discretionary appeals and reverses the appeals court’s order granting further relief.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Marshall dissented, arguing Ross was wrongly decided and that due process can require state courts to consider untimely applications when a defendant reasonably relied on counsel’s promise, citing the one-day late filing here as unfair.