RIGHT TO DIE on Death Row: Court Hands Off Feud About Murder Appeal- SCOTUSblog
The Supreme Court on Monday asked an attorney disciplinary panel in Pennsylvania to sort out a dispute among lawyers over a death penalty appeal that an inmate has said he did not want filed. In an order included with the Court’s second round of summer recess actions, the Justices referred the case of Michael E. Ballard to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Board, to investigate or take “action it finds appropriate.”
…On June 2, after a state prosecutor opposed the petition and the Court had set the case for consideration, Ballard wrote to the Court, saying he had not given anyone permission to appeal his case and that he had wanted “to waive my appeals.” On June 23, the Court denied the petition, giving no reasons. But in the same order, it directed Bookman to respond to Ballard’s letter.
On July 8, Bookman wrote to the Court, saying he had been asked to file the appeal by a lawyer with the federal public defender’s office, who said he had understood that Ballard wanted the petition filed. The letter said that Ballard had spoken to the press, saying he did not want to die. Bookman attached a copy of his professional background, and the ruling by the state supreme court ruling upholding the conviction and sentences.