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A Native American on death row, no college education, no political connections, mid-20s at the time of his conviction, represented by a public defender, not only had (at least) two scheduling hearings before the Supreme Court, it agreed to grant cert twice, and overturned his sentencing on the first case but denied his request for habeas relief (reversing the appellate court's grant of his habeas petition).

That's how the process works. If you are convicted, you have your appeal(s) of right. That means as long as you follow the rules they have to hear your appeal. And, once those are exhausted, you can request an en banc hearing at the appellate level, and once your options there are exhausted, you can petition the Supreme Court to hear your case. They only take a handful of cases every year. They favor cases in which there is a circuit split (as here), or a novel question of law (as in my brother's case), or cases in which a decision was issued by a lower court before a significant sea change at the Supreme Court (my brother's second round at the Supreme Court).