In Reno v. Davis, the Ninth Circuit today affirmed the denial of a death row inmate’s habeas corpus petition. The petitioner was convicted of three murders committed in 1976 and 1978. The California Supreme Court first reversed his convictions (People v. Memro (1985) 38 Cal.3d 658), but then affirmed his death sentence after a retrial (People v. Memro (1995) 11 Cal.4th 786). It also denied both an initial state habeas corpus petition (here) and then a second one that the court said “exemplifies abusive writ practices that have become all too common in successive habeas corpus petitions filed in this court” (In re Reno (2012) 55 Cal.4th 428, 443).
Applying the standard of review of the federal Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, which is highly deferential to state court decisions, the three-judge federal appeals panel rejected arguments regarding the destruction of police personnel records before the petitioner’s retrial, and claims of instructional error, coerced confessions, and a double jeopardy violation.
The Ninth Circuit usually, but not always, refuses to overturn Supreme Court death penalty affirmances.
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