Steven James v. Charles L. Ryan

OPINION ON REMAND

In James v. Ryan (James II), 679 F.3d 780 (9th Cir.2012), we granted Steven James habeas corpus relief from his death sentence, holding that his trial counsel had provided ineffective assistance at the penalty phase. The United States Supreme Court vacated that decision and remanded for us to consider whether Johnson v. Williams , — • U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 1088 , 185 L.Ed.2d 105 (2013), compels a different result. Ryan v. James, — U.S.-, 133 S.Ct. 1579 , 185 L.Ed.2d 572 (2013). We conclude that it does not.

I. Background

A. State Proceedings

An Arizona jury convicted James of first-degree murder and kidnapping for the 1981 killing of Juan Maya. James II, 679 F.3d at 786 . James II contains a thorough recitation of the facts and procedural history. Id. at 785-801 . We provide only a brief summary here. James, Lawrence Libberton, and Martin Norton “severely beat Maya, drove him to an isolated desert area, killed him by shooting him and striking him with rocks, and threw his body down an abandoned mine, shaft.” Id. at 785 . Finding that the murder was “ ‘especially heinous, cruel, or depraved,’ ” the trial court sentenced James to death. Id. at 798-99 . The Arizona…