In Panah v. Chappell, the Ninth Circuit yesterday affirmed a district court’s denial of habeas corpus relief to a condemned California prisoner. The Supreme Court affirmed the inmate’s death sentence on an automatic direct appeal in 2005 (People v. Panah (2005) 35 Cal.4th 395) and it denied his habeas corpus petitions in 2006 and 2011; another habeas petition — filed early last year — is pending. Among other things, the federal court expressed “concern[ ] with defense counsel’s lack of pre-trial investigation,” but concluded there wasn’t a reasonable probability that any lawyering deficiencies affected the case’s outcome.
Ninth Circuit overturnings of California death sentences are more the exception (e.g., here) than the rule (e.g., here and here).