Another Ninth Circuit habeas relief grant for a California death row inmate
For the second time in eight days, the Ninth Circuit has vacated a death sentence that had been affirmed by the California Supreme Court despite a standard of review that is highly deferential to state court rulings. Like last week’s deicision, the federal appeals court leaves intact the habeas petitioner’s conviction, this one for a 1988 double murder. The petitioner, Colin Dickey, was convicted under a felony-murder theory for aiding and abetting the two murders.
