Judicial Mistakes

innocent, a federal habeas court may grant the writ even in the absence of a showing of
cause for the procedural default."
A petitioner may lose their chance to claim a violation of his or her Fundamental rights if
there is a procedural default on the claim. Some procedural defaults include
intentionally waiving their right to make the claim, or not filing the claim in a timely
manner. If state courts provide adequate means of challenging federal fundamental
errors, then a procedural default may not be appealed to a federal court. However, if
state courts do not provide adequate means of challenging the errors, then a federal
court has jurisdiction to hear the claim. The Supreme Court held in Coleman v.
Thompson that a petitioner who failed to comply with a timeliness requirement in a state
court could nevertheless plead their claims on the merits in federal court if he or she
could show that "failure to consider the claims [would] result in a fundamental
miscarriage of justice."
Application in United States Federal Case Law
A fundamental error occurs whenever a defendant was probably actually
innocent. In Murray v. Carrier, the Supreme Court ruled that the concept of
"fundamental miscarriage of justice" applies to those cases in which the defendant was
probably actually innocent." That concern is reflected, for example, in the "fundamental
value determination of our society that it is far worse to convict an innocent man than to
let a guilty man go free."
A fundamental error occurs whenever there is a failure to prove beyond a
reasonable doubt every element of the charged offense. In United States v.
McClelland, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that "the failure
to properly instruct the jury on [the required] element of a crime constitutes fundamental
error".
A fundamental error occurs whenever a defendant stands convicted of conduct
that is not criminal. In United States v. Stoneman, the United States Court of Appeals
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