Stoltie
Stoltie v. People of State of Cal.
Opinion
Opinion
Pregerson, J.
ORDER GRANTING PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS
This Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus asks whether the trial court’s use of an analogy to explain the “reasonable doubt” standard violated Petitioner’s due process rights. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636 , the Court has reviewed de novo the Petition, all the records and files herein, and the Report and Recommendation (“Report”) of the United States Magistrate Judge. The Court disagrees with the Report that denies the Petition with prejudice because the Court finds that Petitioner’s claim has merit. Accordingly, the Court grants the Petition and adopts the following order.
I. BACKGROUND
This is a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus filed under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . In November 2003, Petitioner Brian Joseph Stoltie was charged with five criminal offenses in the Riverside County Superior Court: (1) rape, Cal.Penal Code (“CPC”) § 261(a)(2); (2) rape of an intoxicated victim, CPC § 261(a)(3); (3) sexual penetration with a foreign object, CPC § 289(a)(1); (4) assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, CPC § 245(a)(1); and (5) robbery, CPC § 211.
Trial commenced on May 11, 2004. After the judge issued the standard California…