Snodgrass v. Miller

In agreeing to a post-conviction waiver, “[the person] assumes the risk that ‘the law could change in [their] favor,’ when the person knowingly and voluntarily agrees to a bargain that includes a waiver of subsequent challenge.” Snodgrass v. Miller, 328 Or. App. 1, 5 (2023).

Snodgrass appealed the decision by the post-conviction court to grant summary judgment to the Superintendent of the Snake River Correctional Institution and the Oregon State Board of Parol. In his post-conviction petition, Snodgrass sought relief for eight nonunanimous jury verdicts in light of the decision by the United States Supreme Court in Ramos v. Louisiana. On appeal, Snodgrass argued that although he waived “any further challenges” as part of a habeas corpus settlement, he lacked the requisite knowledge element because he was unaware that the United States Supreme Court would rule that a unanimous jury trial in state proceedings was constitutionally required. Moreover, Snodgrass argued that a waiver should not be applied here when “a person can demonstrate that a conviction or sentence is ‘illegal.’”

The post-conviction court based its decision on the grounds “that Ramos did not apply retroactively in state post-conviction proceedings” and that even if they did, Snodgrass waived his right to file when he agreed to settle a habeas corpus case. “A waiver that is ‘intelligently made in the light of the then applicable law does not become vulnerable because later judicial decisions’ indicate that it ‘rested on a faulty premise.’” Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742, 757 (1970). In agreeing to a waiver, “[the person] assumes the risk that ‘the law could change in [their] favor,’ when the person knowingly and voluntarily agrees to a bargain that includes a waiver of subsequent challenge.” Here, the court found that the post-conviction court erred; Ramos did “retroactively apply in state post-conviction proceedings.” The court, however, was not persuaded that the waiver did not apply, finding that such waivers are generally enforceable and Snodgrass ‘assum[ed] the risk’ when agreeing to the settlement.

Affirmed.