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In 2004, the Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed the conviction, which meant that Christeson\u0027s federal habeas petition was due on April 10, 2005. Nine months before the deadline, the Court appointed attorneys Phil Horwitz and Eric Butts to represent Christeson. Horwitz and Butts failed to meet with Christeson until six weeks after the petition was due, and they filed the petition 117 days late. The federal district court dismissed the petition as untimely. Seven years later, Horwitz and Butts contacted attorneys Jennifer Merrigan and Joseph Perkovich to discuss Christeson\u0027s case. Merrigan and Perkovich discovered Christeson\u0027s only chance would be to reopen the final judgment on the grounds that the statute of limitation should not have been enforced in this case. Horwitz and Butts, knowing this would ruin their reputations, refused to let outside counsel access their files. Merrigan and Perkovich moved for substitution of counsel, which the district court denied because they were from out of state and because Horwitz and Butts had not abandoned their client. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","question":"\u003Cp\u003E(1) Does an actual conflict of interest meet the \u0022interests of justice\u0022 standard and require the appointment of conflict-free counsel?\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E(2) Should the appointed counsel that procedurally defaulted the client\u0027s federal habeas application through an untimely filing of the petition continue their court appointment and determine the existence of pleas regarding their own abandonment and\/or misconduct?\u003C\/p\u003E\n","conclusion":"\u003Cp\u003EYes, no. In a per curiam opinion, the Court held that Christeson\u0027s motion for substitution of counsel met the \u0022interests of justice\u0022 standard because of Horwitz and Butts\u0027 conflict of interest. Horwitz and Butts would have to claim serious attorney misconduct against themselves in order to prevent the enforcement of the statute of limitations, and they cannot reasonably be expected to do so. The attorneys\u0027 decision not to argue in favor of the non-enforcement of the statute of limitations was contrary to their client\u0027s interest, which is grounds for attorney substitution. Christeson is entitled to show that the statute of limitations should not be enforced and to the assistance of substitute counsel in doing so.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJustice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote a dissenting opinion in which he argued that the one-year statute of limitations for the habeas corpus petition may only go unenforced under extraordinary circumstances and that briefing and argument is necessary. This case was based on attorney error for the untimely filing of the habeas petition, which did not qualify as extraordinary circumstances. Justice Alito also wrote that the Court should have reviewed the question of petitioner\u0027s entitlement to the non-enforcement of the statute of limitations, rather than only the issue of the right to attorney substitution. Justice Clarence Thomas joined in the dissent.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","advocates":null,"oral_argument_audio":null,"citation":{"volume":"574","page":"373","year":"2015","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_citation\/case_citation\/20931"},"decisions":[{"description":"Counsels\u0027 conflict of interest satisfied the requirements for counsel substitution under \u0022the interests of justice\u0022 standard","votes":[{"member":{"ID":15086,"name":"John G. Roberts, Jr.","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/people\/john_g_roberts_jr","view_count":0,"last_name":"Roberts","roles":[{"id":2730,"type":"scotus_justice","date_start":1127970000,"date_end":0,"appointing_president":"George W. 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