Tauno Waidla v. Ron Davis

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

TAUNO WAIDLA, Nos. 18-99001 18-99002 Petitioner-Appellee / Cross-Appellant, D.C. No. 2:01-cv- v. 00650-AG

RONALD DAVIS, Warden,

OPINION

Respondent-Appellant / Cross-Appellee.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Andrew J. Guilford, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted March 1, 2023 Reargued and Submitted January 25, 2024 Pasadena, California

Filed December 23, 2024

Before: Kim McLane Wardlaw, Morgan B. Christen, and Eric D. Miller, Circuit Judges. *

* The Honorable Paul J. Watford retired from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on May 31, 2023. Judge Morgan B. Christen was drawn to Per Curiam Opinion; Concurrence by Judge Christen; Partial Dissent by Judge Wardlaw

SUMMARY **

Habeas Corpus / Death Penalty

In the State of California’s appeal and Tauno Waidla’s cross-appeal from the district court’s judgment on Waidla’s habeas corpus petition challenging his California conviction and death sentence for a 1988 murder, the panel…