United States Ninth Circuit

Denial of a petition for habeas relief from a conviction for felony murder is reversed where: 1) a conclusion that petitioner's recorded confession to police was nonprejudicial because of his prior statements to others was contrary to clearly established Supreme Court precedent; 2) counsel's failure to move to suppress his involuntary confession fell below an objective standard of reasonableness; and 3) a state court's rejection of petitioner's constitutional claim was contrary to Supreme Court precedent, and constituted an objectively unreasonable application of Strickland.

Appellate Information

• Argued 03/10/2005
• Decided 07/28/2008
• Published 07/28/2008

Judges

• Before:  STEPHEN REINHARDT, MARSHA S. BERZON, and JAY S. BYBEE, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Barbara L. Creel, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Portland, OR, for the petitioner-appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Hardy Myers, Attorney General for the State of Oregon, Mary H. Williams, Solicitor General (On the Briefs);  Jennifer S. Lloyd, Attorney-In-Charge, Collateral Remedies and Capital Appeals Unit, Salem, OR (Argued), for the respondent-appellee.