Mees v. Hurley

Matthew Mees (plaintiff) was a juvenile who was charged with child molestation. The case against Mees began in family court but was later transferred to adult court. Mees had a history of mental illness. Mees admitted he was guilty and entered a guilty plea to three counts of first-degree child molestation in 2006. Although Mees was sentenced to three concurrent 15-year sentences on the three counts, Mees was released to five years of probation after serving an initial period of 120 days’ incarceration. However in 2008, Mees’s probation was revoked, and Mees was ordered to begin serving 15 years in prison. Mees chose not to file any appeals at the time. However, in 2012 and 2013, Mees filed writs of habeas corpus in a Missouri circuit court and a court of appeals, respectively, which were both denied. Then, Mees filed a writ of habeas corpus in federal court, arguing that the time for filing a habeas petition should be equitably tolled because of his mental illness. At an evidentiary hearing, Mees argued that he had received ineffective assistance of counsel when he pleaded guilty. Mees argued that his attorney did not have Mees’s mental health assessed, and that if the attorney had, he would not have counseled Mees to plead guilty. At both Mees’s guilty-plea hearing and his sentencing hearing, Mees had indicated that his attorney did all that Mees requested and that he was satisfied with his attorney’s performance. Mees was even given the chance to speak with the judge alone if there was anything he wished to share, but he chose not to. Mees cited a statement from his mother informing Mees’s attorney of Mees’s history of mental illness. Mees argued that he was coerced into signing the guilty plea by his attorney, who instructed Mees to mark yes to each question on the form except for the one that asked whether Mees had been coerced into pleading guilty.