Cooper
Cooper v. McGrath
Opinion
Opinion
Illston, J.
ORDER GRANTING PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS
INTRODUCTION
This matter is now before the court for consideration of the merits of Aaron Lyn-dale Cooper’s pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus concerning his 1996 conviction for murder, kidnapping and carjacking. For the reasons discussed below, the petition will be granted.
BACKGROUND
Cooper was convicted of kidnapping, carjacking and murder. To summarize, the evidence showed that on August 3, 1995, three men (identified by some witnesses as Cooper, Cross and Kingdom) were in a parked blue car near an intersection in Oakland looking for Coco. A Corvette pulled up with Coco in the passenger seat. Coco got out of the car, talked to the three men briefly and was then put in to the trunk of the blue car at gunpoint. The blue car drove away with Coco in the trunk and the Corvette was driven away by a man (identified by a witness as Cooper). Coco’s dead body was found two weeks later in the Oakland hills. He had been gagged and shot in the head. Cooper was arrested in Oakland seven hours after the abduction, Cross was arrested in Mississippi about a week after the abduction and Kingdom was arrested in Mississippi about three…