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Habeas Petitions: The Importance of the Oath

By Bill Theis

Saidi Kafo v. United States, No. 05-3034 (November 3, 2006): Mr. Kafo submitted a petition to set aside his conviction under 28 U.S.C. sec. 2255. He alleged that his attorney had not filed a notice of appeal even though he had requested the attorney to do so. The petition was not signed under penalty of perjury, and the district court dismissed, reasoning that he had no evidence to support his claim.Reversing, the Seventh Circuit ruled that had he signed the petition under penalty of perjury, as required by Rule 2 of the special rules for 2255 cases, he would have presented sufficient evidence to require an evidentiary hearing on this question. The district court erred in not giving him a chance to attach a sworn affirmation to his allegations...continue to full post

Full post as published by Seventh Circuit Blog on November 07, 2006 (boomark / email).