Rodgers

Introduction

In June 2003, a jury found Petitioner-Appellant Otis Lee Rodgers (“Rodgers”) guilty of assault with a firearm, possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon, and making criminal threats, as well as two sentencing enhancement allegations. Rodgers was sentenced and is currently serving a sixteen-year prison term.

After exhausting state court remedies, Rodgers filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in federal court, raising twenty-one claims for relief. The district court denied the petition, but granted Rodgers a limited certifícate of appealability regarding his claim that the state trial court violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel by denying his timely request for representation to file a new trial motion. In addition to the certified issue, Rodgers argues there was insufficient evidence to support the charge of criminal threats, and the state court unreasonably affirmed an upper term sentence in the absence of proof to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. We decline to address those uncertified issues.

This case requires us to consider whether a criminal defendant’s request for legal counsel to file a post-verdict motion for a new trial is…