Doe v. Ayers, No. 15-99006 (9th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseDefendant was found guilty of murder and two counts of burglary in California state court and sentenced to death. Defendant sought habeas relief in California courts, to no avail. Defendant subsequently filed a federal habeas petition. The district court affirmed the conviction, concluding (1) Defendant’s guilt-phase challenges failed; and (2) counsel for Defendant at the penalty phase of trial had performed deficiently by failing to investigate and present certain mitigating evidence, but Defendant failed to establish that he had been prejudiced as a result. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the conviction but reversed as to Defendant’s sentence, holding that the district court (1) did not err in concluding that counsel was ineffective in failing to investigate and present mitigating evidence at the penalty phase; but (2) erred in concluding that counsel’s deficient performance did not prejudice Defendant with respect to the penalty-phase claim. Remanded.
Court Description: Habeas Corpus/Death Penalty. The panel affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s judgment on California state prisoner John Doe’s habeas corpus petition challenging his murder conviction and capital sentence, and remanded with instructions to grant the writ with respect to the penalty phase and return the case to the state court to reduce Doe’s sentence to life without parole, unless the state elects to pursue a new capital sentencing proceeding within a reasonable amount of time as determined by the district court. The panel wrote that because Doe filed his petition prior to the passage of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, the parties agree that his petition is governed by pre-AEDPA standards of review. The panel agreed with the district court that Doe is not entitled to reversal of his conviction on the basis of the claims presented in the petition: ineffective assistance of counsel during the guilt phase, use of peremptory strikes in a racially discriminatory matter in violation of Batson v. Kentucky, improper withholding of impeachment evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland, extraneous evidence of prior crimes, and cumulative prejudice. The panel agreed with the district court that counsel was ineffective in failing to investigate and present mitigating DOE V. AYERS 3 evidence at the penalty phase. The panel wrote that the evidence that counsel’s performance at the penalty phase fell well below the constitutional minimum is overwhelming. The panel held that there is a substantial probability that there would have been a different result at the penalty phase had counsel’s performance not been ineffective, and that the district court therefore erred in concluding that counsel’s deficient performance did not prejudice Doe. The panel wrote that the aggravating evidence the jury considered was, for a capital case, fairly minimal, and that counsel’s penalty- phase evidentiary presentation was brief, haphazard, and thoroughly underwhelming. The panel wrote that the powerful evidence introduced in the habeas proceedings at the district court represented the fruits of an appropriate mitigation investigation, and concluded that the evidence of Doe’s repeated rape in prison as a youngster and its detrimental effects on his mental health is sufficient to establish prejudice. The panel wrote that additional mitigating evidence of Doe’s abusive childhood and substance abuse, which counsel likewise failed to present, only strengthens that conclusion. The panel wrote that its finding of prejudice is supported by a comparison with other capital cases, and rejected the state’s arguments, regarding causal nexus and rebuttal evidence, against the conclusion that counsel’s deficient penalty-phase performance prejudiced Doe.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on May 27, 2015.
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