No. 19-7795October Term 2019Decided Apr 20, 2020
Foster v. Chapman
The Supreme Court did not step in, so Foster got no relief from this petition and the Sixth Circuit's result remained in force.
Case status
- Current stage
- Decided
- Latest event
- Decision released Apr 20, 2020
- What it's about
This is a procedural filing where a party is asking the Supreme Court to review a lower court decision while also requesting permission to proceed without paying standard court fees due to financial hardship.
Question presented
1. Whether Mr. Foster was denied a fair trial due to prosecutorial misconduct where the assistant prosecutor intentionally provided an erroneous definition for unlawful imprisonment to the jury thereby creating confusion and an unreliable verdict? 2. Whether Mr. Foster's Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel was violated by trial counsel's failure to object to the assistant prosecutor's misconduct in providing an erroneous definition for the offense of unlawful imprisonment to the jury? 3. Whether there was ineffective assistance of trial counsel for failure to investigate exculpatory evidence? 4. Whether there was ineffective assistance of appellate counsel? 5. Whether there was prosecutor misconduct for violation of discovery rules by failure to produce requested police record? 6. Whether the prosecutor demonstrated misconduct by the use of perjured testimony to capitalize a conviction?
- Case path
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit / Decision released Apr 20, 2020
- Area
Decided Supreme Court case
Briefing
What it's about
Foster asked the Supreme Court to review a Sixth Circuit decision involving claims of prosecutorial misconduct and ineffective assistance of counsel. The Court declined review, leaving the lower-court result in place without deciding those claims on the merits.
Vote
No argument was scheduled in the provided record, and it does not give a vote count or opinion lineup.
Impact
The justices gave no national answer on the jury-instruction, discovery, or lawyer-performance issues Foster raised. For example, other defendants with similar claims still must rely on lower-court rulings unless the Court takes a future case.
What's next
This Supreme Court docket is over. The provided record does not describe any further action by the justices beyond ending review.
What was Foster v. Chapman about?
Foster asked the Court to review claims of prosecutorial misconduct and ineffective assistance of counsel from his criminal case. He also asked to proceed without paying standard court fees.
Did the Supreme Court change the law in Foster v. Chapman?
No. The Court declined review, so it left the Sixth Circuit result in place without deciding the merits.
What happens next in Foster v. Chapman?
Nothing further is scheduled in this Supreme Court docket. Any additional move would have to come outside this finished petition.
Decision
What the Court decided
The Supreme Court did not step in, so Foster got no relief from this petition and the Sixth Circuit's result remained in force.
Impact
The justices gave no national answer on the jury-instruction, discovery, or lawyer-performance issues Foster raised. For example, other defendants with similar claims still must rely on lower-court rulings unless the Court takes a future case.
Not official Court text.
Timing
Decided April 20, 2020
The Court released its decision on April 20, 2020 without hearing oral argument.
Related cases
Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary materials plus reporting.
- Note
- Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Jul 25, 2026
- Method
- Methodology