In Stevens v. Davis, the Ninth Circuit today affirms the denial of a habeas corpus petition filed by a death row inmate. The California Supreme Court rejected the condemned prisoner’s automatic direct appeal 15 years ago (People v. Stevens (2007) 41 Cal.4th 182) and denied a state court habeas petition in 2009. Stevens was convicted of four first degree murders and six attempted murders committed over a period of a few months in 1989: “defendant engaged in a series of random attacks, by shooting at people on or near Interstate 580 in Oakland. All but one of the victims were in cars when attacked.” (Id. at p. 187.)
The federal habeas petition claimed the prosecution racially discriminated against Blacks during jury selection in violation of Batson v. Kentucky (1986) 476 U.S. 79. The federal appeals court finds no ground for relief, using a “doubly deferential standard” — deferring to the trial court’s evaluation of the prosecutor’s race-neutral reasons for challenging some Black prospective jurors and using a “ ‘highly deferential standard’ ” in reviewing the Supreme Court’s decision.
The Ninth Circuit usually, but not always, refuses to overturn Supreme Court death penalty affirmances.
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