United States Ninth Circuit

Denial of a third federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus in a death penalty case is affirmed over claims that: 1) the district court abused its discretion by denying discovery, necessary forensic testing, evidentiary hearings, and a request to expand the record; 2) he was entitled to relief on his claims of actual innocence; 3) the state contaminated or tampered with key evidence; 4) the state failed to disclose material exculpatory evidence in violation of Brady; 5) a witness's testimony was unreliable; and 6) he demonstrated multiple constitutional errors without which the jury would have returned a not guilty or non-capital verdict.

Appellate Information

• Argued 01/09/2007
• Decided 12/04/2007
• Published 12/04/2007

Judges

• Before:  PAMELA ANN RYMER, M. MARGARET McKEOWN, and RONALD M. GOULD, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Norman C. Hile and Ali Kazemi, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, San Francisco, CA, for the petitioner.


• For Appellees:
  
• Holly D. Wilkens, Deputy Attorney General, State of CA, San Diego, for the respondent.