United States Ninth Circuit

In a capital case, denial of petitioner's third amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus is affirmed in part, but reversed in part and remanded where: 1) petitioner's Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment right to a fair trial was violated during the penalty phase by the prosecutor's gross misconduct; 2) his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel was violated when his trial attorney allowed a witness, who had evaluated defendant at the defense's request, to testify for the prosecution; 3) these two errors were not harmless and required reversal of the sentence; and 4) finally, petitioner's previously defaulted claims, which include both guilt and penalty phase claims, should not have been barred from federal habeas review.

Appellate Information

• Argued 02/15/2007
• Decided 12/05/2008
• Published 12/05/2008

Judges

• Before:  HARRY PREGERSON, W. FLETCHER, and MARSHA S. BERZON, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Franny A. Forsman, Tiffany R. Murphy, and Michael Pescetta, Federal Public Defender's Office, Las Vegas, NV, for the petitioner-appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• George J. Chanos and David K. Neidert, Office of the Nevada Attorney General, Reno, NV, for the respondent-appellee.