The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a new hearing for an Alabama death-row inmate who missed a critical appeals deadline because his lawyers at a prestigious New York law firm “abandoned” his case without telling him or court officials.
最高法院18日裁定,因為阿拉巴馬州一名死刑犯的律師在關鍵時刻「遺棄」這名犯人,他有權獲得重審。
梅寶斯(Cory Maples)1995年以行刑方式,謀殺兩名男子,因而被定罪。代表他的律師為紐約Sullivan and Cromwell律師樓。該律師事務所未拆開通知梅寶斯上訴的信件,並把該信件退回法院,而法院書記官也沒有採取進一步行動,使梅寶斯錯失上訴的機會。