United States Ninth Circuit

Judgment granting habeas corpus petition based on a freestanding claim of actual innocence, in a case in which petitioner was convicted of unlawful sexual penetration of his sister, is reversed where: 1) all three witnesses recanted; 2) as a general matter, recantation testimony is properly viewed with great suspicion, and even if the recantations were truthful, they are insufficient to demonstrate that petitioner is innocent as two of the three witnesses never actually witnessed the abuse; and 3) the issue of whether a freestanding actual innocence claim is cognizable in a federal, non-capital habeas proceeding was not resolved because petitioner did not make a sufficient showing to merit relief.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/19/2014
• Published 08/19/2014

Judges

• Tashima

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel