Appointments in California State Capital Habeas Corpus Proceedings

As described in the article Habeas Center Needs Help for Death Row Inmates (California Bar Journal, December 2004), the need for qualified counsel to take appointments in capital state habeas corpus proceedings has reached a crisis level. The HCRC is seeking counsel, including large civil law firms, to take appointments in these rewarding and interesting cases.

The following items provide general information regarding capital state habeas appointments:

• Informational brochure from the California Supreme Court (CSC) about appointments in capital cases
• CSC application for appointment to capital appeal and/or habeas corpus/executive clemency proceedings (Note: This application should not be returned to the HCRC.)
• Qualification criteria for appointment to capital cases
• Press release regarding CSC policies revised (December 6, 2005)
• CSC policies in cases arising from judgments of death (includes payment guidelines for appointed counsel and guidelines for fixed fee appointments to automatic appeals and related habeas corpus proceedings)
• HCRC memorandum describing the current crisis in capital habeas representation and describing the program offered to law firms who take appointments in state capital habeas proceedings
• CSC memorandum regarding its fee and expense application process
• CSC letter regarding compensation for post-conviction discovery
• CSC compensation form
• CSC compensation form instructions

For additional information, see two recent news articles (both printed on December 15, 2004) entitled, "Habeas Hunt: Court Trying to Tempt Big Firms Back into Taking Death Cases" (The Recorder) and "George Cites Progress in Dysfunctional Capital Appeals" (San Francisco Daily Journal).

If, after reviewing the materials, you believe that you are qualified and are interested in accepting a capital state habeas appointment, please complete this brief questionnaire. If you have any questions, please contact the HCRC at info at hcrc dot ca dot gov or 415.348.3800.

Thank you for your interest!