U.S. Sup. Ct.
11-10189
In Martinez v. Ryan, 566 U. S. 1, ___, this Court held that a procedural default will not bar a federal habeas court from hearing a substantial claim of ineffective assistance at trial if, in the [States] initial-review collateral proceeding, there was no counsel or counsel in that proceeding was ineffective. Martinez regarded a prisoner from Arizona, where state procedural law required the prisoner to raise the claim during his first state collateral review proceeding. Ibid. This case regards a prisoner from Texas, where state procedural law does not require a defendant to raise his ineffective-assistance-of-trial-counsel claim on collateral review. Rather, Texas law appears to permit a prisoner to raise such a claim on direct review, but the structure and design of the Texas system make it virtually impossible for a prisoner to do so. The question presented in this case is whether, despite this difference, the rule set out in Martinez applies in Texas.
