No. 16-7835     *** CAPITAL CASE ***  
Title:
Toforest Onesha Johnson, Petitioner
v.
Alabama
Docketed:February 8, 2017
Lower Ct:Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
  Case Nos.:(CR-05-1805)
  Decision Date:August 14, 2015
  Rehearing Denied:February 12, 2016
Discretionary Court  
  Decision Date:November 18, 2016

~~~Date~~~ ~~~~~~~Proceedings  and  Orders~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feb 2 2017 Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due March 10, 2017)
Mar 3 2017 Order extending time to file response to petition to and including April 10, 2017.
Mar 10 2017 Brief amicus curiae of Death Row Exoneree 138 Anthony Graves filed.
Apr 7 2017 Order further extending time to file response to petition to and including May 10, 2017.
May 10 2017 Brief of respondent Alabama in opposition filed.
May 19 2017 Reply of petitioner Toforest Onesha Johnson filed.
May 24 2017 DISTRIBUTED for Conference of June 8, 2017.
Jun 12 2017 DISTRIBUTED for Conference of June 15, 2017.
Jun 19 2017 DISTRIBUTED for Conference of June 22, 2017.
Jun 26 2017 Motion to proceed in forma pauperis and petition for a writ of certiorari GRANTED. Judgment VACATED and case REMANDED for further consideration in light of the position asserted by the respondent in its brief filed on May 10, 2017. The CHIEF JUSTICE, with whom JUSTICE THOMAS, JUSTICE ALITO, and JUSTICE GORSUCH join, dissenting: The Court vacates the judgment below in light of the position asserted by the respondent in its brief. That position is that the Court should vacate a state court judgment for further consideration in light of Ex parte Beckworth, 190 So. 3d 571 (Ala. 2013). Beckworth is a state court decision that turns entirely on state procedural law. It was expressly called to the attention of the state courts, which declined to upset the decision below in light of it. Reply to Pet. for Cert. 2, n. 1. The question presented concerns state collateral review—purely a creature of state law that need not be provided at all. Whatever one’s view on the propriety of our practice of vacating judgments based on positions of the parties, see Hicks v. United States, 582 U. S. ___ (2017), the Court’s decision to vacate this state court judgment is truly extraordinary. I respectfully dissent.
Jul 28 2017 MANDATE ISSUED.
Jul 28 2017 JUDGMENT ISSUED.



~~Name~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    ~~~~~~~Address~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   ~~Phone~~~
Attorneys for Petitioner:
Patrick Mark Mulvaney Southern Center for Human Rights404-688-1202
    Counsel of Record83 Poplar Street, NW
Atlanta, GA  30303
pmulvaney@schr.org
Party name: Toforest Onesha Johnson
Attorneys for Respondent:
Andrew L. Brasher Deputy Solicitor General(334) 242-7300
    Counsel of Record Office of Alabama Attorney General
501 Washington Avenue
Montgomery, AL  36130
abrasher@ago.state.al.us
Party name: Alabama
 
Thomas R. Govan, Jr. Dupty Attorney General(334) 353-2187
    Counsel of Record Office of the Attorney General
501 Washington Avenue
P.O. Box 300152
Montgomery, AL  36130-0152
tgovan@ago.state.al.us
Party name: Alabama
Other:
Brian R. Matsui Morrison & Foerster, LLP(202) 887-8784
2000 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC  20006
bmatsui@mofo.com
Party name: Death Row Exoneree 138 Anthony Graves