{"argument_date":"2002-03-25T00:00:00Z","arguments":[{"argument_date":"2002-03-25T00:00:00Z","heading":"What happened at the argument","official_detail_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcript/2001","official_transcript_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","paragraphs":["Michael Moore argued the state court lacked authority to grant habeas relief.","He stated the state court correctly identified the Strickland standard.","Mr. Hutton argued the core issue was the lawyer's failure to argue for life.","He described this failure as a total abdication of advocacy duties."],"reargument":false,"sequence":1,"sources":[{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 19, lines 27-1","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 19, lines 27-1"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 29, lines 5-21","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 29, lines 5-21"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 3, lines 15-19","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 3, lines 15-19"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 3, lines 5-13","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 3, lines 5-13"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 51, lines 15-45","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 51, lines 15-45"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 55, lines 7-11","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 55, lines 7-11"}]}],"caption":"Bell v. Cone","case_history":[{"changed_at":"2026-08-29T20:06:32.292390Z","explanation":"An official oral-argument transcript was verified.","status":"argued"},{"changed_at":"2026-08-29T20:06:32.325293Z","explanation":"An official oral-argument transcript was verified.","status":"argued"}],"case_status":"argued","dek":"The dispute centers on whether a state court decision properly denied habeas relief for ineffective assistance of counsel.","dek_sources":[{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 19, lines 27-1","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 19, lines 27-1"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 29, lines 5-21","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 29, lines 5-21"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 3, lines 15-19","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 3, lines 15-19"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 51, lines 15-45","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 51, lines 15-45"}],"dispositions":[],"latest_court_document_date":"2002-03-25T00:00:00Z","maturity":"official_transcript","official_detail_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcript/2001","official_disposition_urls":[],"official_docket_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/01-400.html","primary_docket":"01-400","revisions":[{"correction_note":"Rewritten to the concise citizen-facing editorial standard.","created_at":"2026-08-31T22:41:35.537495Z","maturity":"official_transcript","revision_number":1},{"correction_note":"Migrated to the dated official Court activity contract without model use.","created_at":"2026-09-05T03:22:24Z","maturity":"official_transcript","revision_number":2}],"schema_version":"1.1","sections":[{"heading":"What this case is about","paragraphs":["Ricky Bell argues his lawyer failed to present a case for life during the death penalty phase. Gary Cone argues the state court correctly rejected this claim under federal habeas standards."],"sources":[{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 19, lines 27-1","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 19, lines 27-1"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 29, lines 5-21","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 29, lines 5-21"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 3, lines 15-19","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 3, lines 15-19"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 51, lines 15-45","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 51, lines 15-45"}]},{"heading":"How the case got here","paragraphs":["The Supreme Court heard oral argument in this case on March 25, 2002."],"sources":[{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 3, lines 5-13","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 3, lines 5-13"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 55, lines 7-11","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 55, lines 7-11"}]},{"heading":"What each side wants","paragraphs":["Bell wants the Supreme Court to confirm the lower federal court was right to grant relief.","Cone wants the Supreme Court to confirm the state court was right to deny relief."],"sources":[{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 19, lines 27-1","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 19, lines 27-1"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 29, lines 5-21","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 29, lines 5-21"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 3, lines 15-19","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 3, lines 15-19"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 51, lines 15-45","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 51, lines 15-45"}]},{"heading":"What each side says","paragraphs":["Bell argues his lawyer's failure to argue for life constituted a total abandonment of advocacy.","Cone argues the state court correctly applied the Strickland standard for ineffective assistance."],"sources":[{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 19, lines 27-1","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 19, lines 27-1"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 29, lines 5-21","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 29, lines 5-21"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 3, lines 15-19","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 3, lines 15-19"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 51, lines 15-45","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 51, lines 15-45"}]},{"heading":"What the justices asked","paragraphs":["Chief Justice Rehnquist asked if the first issue was resolved.","Justice Souter asked a follow-up question regarding the legal standard."],"sources":[{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 55, lines 7-11","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 55, lines 7-11"}]},{"heading":"Why it matters","paragraphs":["This case defines the standard for reviewing state court decisions on ineffective assistance claims. It clarifies when federal courts can override state court judgments in capital cases."],"sources":[{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 19, lines 27-1","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 19, lines 27-1"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 29, lines 5-21","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 29, lines 5-21"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 3, lines 15-19","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 3, lines 15-19"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 51, lines 15-45","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 51, lines 15-45"}]},{"heading":"What happens next","paragraphs":["This article currently covers the argument record. Use the official docket link for later case activity."],"sources":[{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 3, lines 5-13","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 3, lines 5-13"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 55, lines 7-11","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 55, lines 7-11"}]}],"slug":"2001-01-400-bell-v-cone","term":"2001","title":"Did the state court correctly reject the ineffective assistance claim?","title_sources":[{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 19, lines 27-1","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 19, lines 27-1"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 29, lines 5-21","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 29, lines 5-21"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 3, lines 15-19","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 3, lines 15-19"},{"evidence_type":"Transcript","label":"Official Supreme Court Transcript — file page 51, lines 15-45","official_url":"https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/2001/01-400.pdf","page_label":"file page 51, lines 15-45"}],"topics":[],"undated_disposition_date_fallback":null,"updated_at":"2026-09-05T03:22:24Z"}