Attorney General John J. Farmer Jr. had sought the rehearing after the court deadlocked last month on his appeal of a lower court ruling.
However, the wording of the rule seems to suggest that so-called "super en banc" is only possible after the en banc panel hearing with 11 randomly-selected judges, and that rehearing for an 11-judge panel was just denied by the Ninth Circuit judges, so it seems highly unlikely that this case is headed anywhere except straight to the Supreme Court.
Petitions for rehearing are very seldom granted.
In May, after the government disclosed that it had failed to turn over hundreds of documents to defense lawyers both for Mr. Nichols and for Timothy J. McVeigh, whose execution was then imminent, Mr. Nichols asked the justices to reopen his case in a petition for rehearing, Nichols v. United States, No. 00-8900.
But they fell just short of the votes needed for rehearing.
"He filed a motion for rehearing in seven limericks," the judge said.
Upon rehearing, this sprawling work, which Feldman claimed lacked any rigorous structure, seemed to have at least a dramatic shape.
The calligraphy is imbued with the composer's emotion while rehearing the music in the process of writing it down.
The case is now back at the Enterprise Court for rehearing.
"DISH Network and EchoStar are pleased that the full Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has granted their petition for rehearing en banc.
If no petition for rehearing and/or rehearing en banc is made, or if it's made and denied, or if it's granted, after it's decided, then a party can ask the Supreme Court to hear the case.
