http://www.oyez.org/issues/judicial-power/nonfederal-grounds/ U.S. Supreme Court Oral Arguments, presented by The Oyez Project (www.oyez.org) en-us http://www.oyez.org/images/oyezfeed.jpg U.S. Supreme Court Audio Recordings, presented by The Oyez Project (www.oyez.org) Tue, 17 Jan 1984 12:00:00 -0500 No details yet. No details yet. 82-1845_19840117-argument http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1983/1983_82_1845/argument/ supreme, court, oyez, rehnquist Wed, 23 Feb 1983 12:00:00 -0500 No details yet. No details yet. 81-2318_19830223-argument http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1982/1982_81_2318/argument/ supreme, court, oyez, rehnquist Mon, 29 Oct 2001 12:00:00 -0500 <p>While on trial for first-degree murder, Remon Lee planned an alibi defense. His mother, stepfather, and sister were to voluntarily testify that he was in California at the time of the murder. The day the defense was to begin its case, the three could not be found. Lee's counsel moved for an overnight continuance to gain time to find the witnesses. The trial judge denied the motion. Subsequently, no alibi witnesses testified, the jury found Lee guilty, and he was sentenced to prison for life without possibility of parole. The Missouri Court of Appeals eventually disposed of the case on state procedural grounds. The appeals court held that the denial of the continuance motion was proper because Lee's counsel had failed to comply with Missouri Supreme Court Rule 24.09, which requires that such motions be in writing and accompanied by an affidavit, and with Rule 24.10, which sets out the showings a movant must make to gain a continuance grounded on witnesses' absence. Ultimately, the Federal Court of Appeals ruled that federal review of Lee's claim, that the refusal to grant his continuance motion deprived him of his federal due process right to a defense, was unavailable because the state court's rejection of that claim rested on state-law grounds, independent of the federal question and adequate to support the judgment.</p> <p>Is a defendant's imperfect compliance with Missouri court rules an adequate state ground to preclude the federal habeas corpus review of his claim that a Missouri trial judge's refusal to grant an overnight continuance violated due process?</p> 00-6933_20011029-argument http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2001/2001_00_6933/argument/ supreme, court, oyez, rehnquist Tue, 25 Feb 1986 12:00:00 -0500 No details yet. No details yet. 85-217_19860225-argument http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1985/1985_85_217/argument/ supreme, court, oyez, rehnquist