The Appellate Practice Clinic has secured a victory for its client, Richard Lemoine, in the appeal of a habeas petition before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Lemoine was convicted for both receipt and possession of child pornography materials. In his Habeas motion before the District Court he argued several constitutional violations, which were all denied. The Sixth Circuit granted a Certificate of Appealability (COA) and appointed the Clinic to represent Lemoine on appeal.

In its Briefs, the Clinic argued that Lemoine’s convictions for both receipt and possession violated the Double-Jeopardy Clause. The Clinic also argued that Lemoine had the right to appeal his original conviction and failed to do so due to ineffective assistance of counsel. While the Sixth Circuit denied that right-to-appeal claim, it accepted in full the Double-Jeopardy claim and remanded the case for further consideration with the District Court.  The court’s opinion is available here.

Students Gareth Kleiber and Jed Chedid (Clinic Fall 2019) and Halie Evans, Mara Hirtz, and Kelley Taurig (Clinic Spring 2020) worked on the Opening and the Reply Briefs, respectively. Clinical Professor Doron Kalir supervised the work and served as Attorney of Record.