In Combs v. Broomfield, the Ninth Circuit last week affirmed the denial of habeas corpus relief to a prisoner whose death sentence for a murder committed over 35 years ago was affirmed by the California Supreme Court (People v. Combs (2004) 34 Cal.4th 821). The Supreme Court also summarily denied a state habeas corpus petition in 2012.
Despite the Supreme Court having stated no reasons for its habeas denial, the Ninth Circuit applied to that denial the “ ‘highly deferential’ ” standard of review under the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. The Ninth Circuit thus rejected numerous claims of ineffective assistance of counsel because, although the “Supreme Court issued a silent denial [of assertions that the prisoner was denied effective counsel], we must ‘consider whether any reasonable argument supports the denial.’ ”
The Ninth Circuit also found no merit in various contentions concerning whether the prisoner was tried while incompetent and in a claim of juror misconduct.
The Ninth Circuit usually, but not always, refuses to overturn Supreme Court death penalty decisions. (See also: District court overturns death penalty the Supreme Court had affirmed.)
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