Jamaar Williams v. Jackie Crawford

MEMORANDUM

Petitioner Jamaar Jerome Williams appeals from the district court’s order dismissing with prejudice several grounds for relief included in his second amended federal habeas petition. The claims at issue concern ineffective assistance of trial and appellate counsel. Because the district court applied the wrong standard in determining that Williams procedurally defaulted these claims, we vacate and remand for further proceedings.

1. Martinez v. Ryan, 566 U.S. 1 , 132 S.Ct. 1309 , 182 L.Ed.2d 272 (2012), governs whether we may excuse Williams’s procedural default and reach the merits of his claims. Under Martinez , a procedural default may be excused when the following four conditions are met:

Dickens v. Ryan, 740 F.3d 1302, 1319 (9th Cir. 2014) (en banc) (citing Trevino v. Thaler, — U.S. —, 133 S.Ct. 1911, 1918 , 185 L.Ed.2d 1044 (2013)); see also Nguyen v. Curry, 736 F.3d 1287, 1293-96 (9th Cir. 2013) (extending Martinez to cases in which the underlying ineffective assistance of counsel claim concerns appellate counsel).

The last three prongs of Martinez are clearly satisfied in this case. Williams was unrepresented during his first state habe-as proceeding. He…