Harmon v. Super. Ct.

BACKGROUND

In August 2020, a jury convicted Reed of pimping, pandering, human trafficking,

and rape involving two victims.2 (Pen. Code, §§ 236.1, subd. (b), 261, subd. (a)(2),

266h, subd. (a), 266i, subd. (a).) The jury also found that he committed a qualifying sex

offense against multiple victims under the one strike law. (Id., § 667.61, subd. (e)(4).)

The trial court sentenced him to a determinate term of 21 years four months in prison,

plus an indeterminate term of 30 years to life.

Reed is African American. In June 2024, he filed the petition for writ of habeas

corpus seeking relief under the RJA. The trial court issued an order to show cause “why

relief should not be granted on the ground that [Reed] suffered a violation of the [RJA]

because the prosecutor and law enforcement witnesses who testified as experts used

‘racially discriminatory language’ during [his] trial, specifically by referring to [Reed] as

a ‘gorilla pimp.’”

We take judicial notice of the record in Reed’s direct appeal from the judgment, People v. Reed (Nov. 7, 2022, E075783) [nonpub. opn.]. (Evid. Code, §§ 452, subd. (d), 459, subd. (a).)

3 In April 2025, the court set an evidentiary…