Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Holley v. Yarborough (9th Cir. - June 16, 2009)

When Judges Kleinfeld, Nelson and Milan Smith agree that the criminal defendant deserves a writ (in an AEDPA case, no less), you know it's got to be a fairly strong claim. As indeed it is.

Two minor points. First, I thought that footnote two was extremely interesting (as well as long), and I might have put that one in the text. Particularly since the court goes out of its way to decide this issue. Second, on page 7162, last paragraph: holding Holly horizontally made it hard for her to "breathe", not "breath". (Good to see Judge Smith spelled motherf****r correctly in the next sentence, though.)