Anthony Marshall Spears v. Terry Stewart, Director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, Opinion

GRABER, Circuit Judge:

In this interlocutory appeal, we have agreed to answer the following question: “whether Arizona, as of July [17], 1998,[ 1 ] qualified to opt-in to Chapter 154, Special Habeas Corpus Procedures in Capital Cases, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2261-2266,” a part of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA). We hold that Arizona’s mechanism for the appointment of counsel for indigent capital defendants in state post-conviction proceedings met the requirements of Chapter 154 and, accordingly, qualified for opt-in status as of that date. However, we also hold that…