Rodney Beeler v. Ron Broomfield

FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT RODNEY GENE BEELER, No. 20-99014 Petitioner-Appellant, D.C. No. 2:96-cv-00606- v. GW RONALD BROOMFIELD, Acting Warden, California State Prison at San OPINION Quentin, Respondent-Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California George H. Wu, District Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted December 11, 2024 Pasadena, California Filed January 23, 2026 Before: Johnnie B. Rawlinson, Jacqueline H. Nguyen, and Jennifer Sung, Circuit Judges. Opinion by Judge Nguyen 2 BEELER V. BROOMFIELD SUMMARY * Habeas Corpus / Death Penalty The panel affirmed the district court’s denial of Rodney Gene Beeler’s habeas corpus petition challenging his California conviction and death sentence for first-degree murder. Beeler raised three arguments concerning his competency to stand trial: (1) the trial court procedurally erred by not sua sponte holding a competency hearing; (2) he was incompetent to stand trial; and (3) defense counsel was ineffective in failing to raise his incompetency. Beeler also argued that, because he established a prima facie case, the California Supreme Court’s summary…