It's only Tuesday and the Ninth Circuit has already issued published decisions reversing two Sacramento federal court judgments denying writs of habeas corpus, Taylor v. Sisto, 5/24/10 and Lunbery v. Hornbeak, 5/25/10. Both decisions are authored by Judge John T. Noonan. In Taylor, the Court, in a 2-1 decision, held that the Court's pre-instruction asking jury's to disregard their life experiences and imagine themselves in a box was an unreasonable application of clearly-established Sixth Amendment law. Judge Sandra S. Ikuta dissents. SFGate.com, 5/26/10. In Lunbery, the Court reversed the denial of the writ because of the California court's improper exclusion of evidence that another person, who had died before trial, had admitted that his partners had murdered the victim.
Also the Ninth Circuit reversed the Sacramento federal court's summary judgment against the plaintiff on his retaliation First Amendment claim in a wrongful termination suit, while affirming summary judgment on his other claims. Anthoine v. North Central Counties Consortium, 5/24/10