Gaskins v. Duval, No. 09-2322 (1st Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseThe defendant was convicted of first-degree murder in Massachusetts in 1992. The state supreme court affirmed in 1995 and, in 1999, denied appeal from denial of a motion for a new trial. The federal district court dismissed a habeas corpus petition that had been filed in 1997 and the defendant again pursued a new trial in state court. After the state supreme court again denied review and the federal court rejected an attempt to revisit the habeas petition, the defendant filed a second habeas petition. The petition was stayed pending exhaustion of state remedies and denied in 2009. The First Circuit affirmed, declining to address a "thorny" statute of limitations issue under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, 28 U.S.C. 2244, and rejecting a claim of prosecutorial misconduct on the merits. State court findings that a witness was not coerced were adequately supported. The jury instruction on malice erroneously referred to the possibility of grievous bodily injury, but the defense did not object. There was no "gross miscarriage of justice;" the defendant offered no evidence of actual innocence.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on April 21, 2011.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on April 29, 2011.
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