United States Ninth Circuit

District court's grant of petition for habeas corpus relief from death sentence and the denial of petitioner's motion for a stay based on competency are affirmed where: 1) a depravity-of-mind aggravating factor and jury instruction were unconstitutionally vague under clearly established Supreme Court law, and the error was not harmless; and 2) the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying petitioner's motion to stay proceedings due to his purported incompetency. Petitioner's Certificate of Appealability (COA) as to several of his guilt-phase claims is expanded and, the district court's denials of relief on those claims are vacated and remanded for further proceedings.

Appellate Information

• Decided 07/16/2015
• Published 07/16/2015

Judges

• Gould

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel