In Re Edward Patrick Morgan on Habeas Corpus

Summary

The court granted an indigent capital inmate’s request to defer consideration of his cursory habeas corpus petition until appointed counsel could investigate additional claims and file an amended petition. It held that the ordinary rule against delaying or supplementing habeas petitions warranted an exception because the petitioner had waited more than 13 years for statutorily authorized habeas counsel through no fault of his own. The court ordered that an amended petition be filed within 36 months after counsel’s appointment. Corrigan, J., concurring in the disposition but dissenting from its reasoning, would have ended the practice of accepting shell petitions.