No. 13-9003 ___JAMES A. DENNIS V
PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _____________ No. 13-9003 _____________ JAMES A. DENNIS v. SECRETARY, PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS; SUPERINTENDENT, STATE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION AT GREENE; SUPERINTENDENT, STATE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION AT ROCKVIEW; DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF PHILADELPHIA COUNTY, Appellants On appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (District Court No.: 2-11-cv-01660) District Judge: Honorable Anita B. Brody Argued on November 5, 2014 before Merits Panel Argued En Banc on October 14, 2015 Before: McKEE Chief Judge, AMBRO, FUENTES, SMITH, FISHER, CHAGARES, JORDAN, HARDIMAN, GREENAWAY, JR., VANASKIE, SHWARTZ, KRAUSE and RENDELL* Circuit Judges (Filed: August 23, 2016) Ronald Eisenberg, Esquire (Argued) Susan E. Affronti, Esquire Ryan Dunlavey, Esquire Philadelphia County Office of District Attorney 3 South Penn Square Philadelphia, PA 19107 Counsel for Appellants *Honorable Marjorie O. Rendell assumed Senior Status on July 1, 2015. 2 Amy L. Rohe, Esquire (Argued) Reisman Karron Green 1700 K. Street, N.W. Suite 200 Washington, DC 20006 Stuart B. Lev, Esquire Federal Community Defender Office for the District of Pennsylvania Trial Unit 601 Walnut Street The Curtis Center, Suite 540 West Philadelphia, PA 19106 Counsel for Appellee Catherine M. A. Carroll, Esquire WilmerHale 1875 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W. Washington, DC 20006 Counsel for Amicus Appellees 3 O P I N I O N RENDELL, Circuit Judge. James Dennis has spent almost twenty-four years unsuccessfully challenging his conviction for the murder of Chedell Williams. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court repeatedly affirmed Dennis’s first-degree murder conviction and sentence and denied his applications for post-conviction relief.
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