What a tangled web.
It's a death penalty case, and Judge Reinhardt writes the original opinion (joined by Judge Wardlaw), with Judge Kozinski writing a classic Kozinski dissent. Needless to say, given that Judge Reinhardt wrote the majority opinion, you know how the case turned out: the denial of the defendant's habeas petition was reversed and remanded.
The California Attorney General files a motion for panel rehearing (and rehearing en banc), an event that's likely going nowhere. But while that motion was pending, troubles begin for Judge Kozinski, and he ultimately resigns at the end of the year, before the motion is decided.
Now, you may think: "The guy dissented. Not like his replacement is going to change anything." And you'd be right. Nonetheless, you've got to replace him, let the new member of the panel review the briefs and oral argument, and weigh in.
So Judge Christen gets drawn. She's working on getting up to speed on the briefs and arguments.
And a few months later, Judge Reinhardt dies. (Parenthetically: Google, can we please get a better picture of the guy to pop up when someone does a search for "Judge Reinhardt dies?" It's almost like you looked long and hard for a close-up photograph of the guy with his eyes closed.)
So now we have to replace Judge Reinhardt. Judge Bea gets drawn to replace him.
And, perhaps predictably, the result of the opinion now changes. The new panel orders the case reargued and, today, unanimously rejects the defendant's habeas claim on the merits.
The dispositive difference just being purely a matter of timing. Had the court acted just a little faster on the pending motion, the defendant would have a live habeas claim, and chance for reversal. But in a twist of fate, his victory gets taken away.
It doesn't really matter, of course. As I mentioned earlier today (again, coincidentally enough), it's not like Mr. Kirkpatrick is likely to be executed anyway, since he too is in California. Which, again, ironically, is exactly what Judge Kozinski said at some length in his original dissent to Judge Reinhardt's opinion in 2017.
To end where I began: A tangled web.
