Sivak v. Hardison, No. 08-99006 (9th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseA jury convicted defendant of felony murder and/or aiding and abetting felony murder, but acquitted him of premeditated murder. The trial judge then imposed the death penalty. Defendant subsequently appealed the district court's denial of habeas relief. The court held that, although it rejected defendant's contentions on appeal, absent the State's knowing presentation of perjured inmate testimony, the result of defendant's penalty-phase hearing could have been different. Accordingly, the court held that the State violated defendant's due process rights under Napue v. Illinois and reversed the district court's denial of the writ with respect to defendant's death sentence.
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