Richardson v. Thomas

The Fourth Circuit vacated the district court's order granting petitioner's motion under Federal of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6), seeking to reopen the district court's final judgment dismissing the intellectual disability claim on the merits under 28 U.S.C. 2254(d). In this case, petitioner's Rule 60(b) motion filed in the district court asserted that his previous claim of intellectual disability was wrongly decided on the merits based upon Hall v. Florida, 572 U.S. 701 (2014), and his new ground for Rule 60(b) relief asserted that his previous claim of intellectual disability was wrongly decided on the merits based upon the state court's 2015 decision. The court held that these were habeas claims not properly brought in a Rule 60(b) motion and, if petitioner was to have a second chance to litigate the merits of his intellectual disability claim, he must do so under section 2244(b). Accordingly, the panel remanded with instructions to dismiss the motion. View "Richardson v. Thomas" on Justia Law