Ricky Sechrest v. Renee Baker

MEMORANDUM

Ricky David Sechrest was convicted in 1983 in Nevada state court of two counts of first degree murder and two counts of kidnapping. Sechrest seeks habeas relief for these convictions. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 , and we affirm the district court’s denial of habeas relief.

This case was last before us in 2008. Sechrest v. Ignacio, 549 F.3d 789 (9th Cir.2008). A full recitation pf the factual and procedural history appears in the 2008 opinion. Id. at 797-801 .

This appeal centers on two subparts of the fourth claim in Sechrest’s fourth amended petition. In “Ground 4A,” Se-chrest argued that he was deprived of his constitutional right to a fair trial when the prosecutor improperly aligned himself with the jury and vouched for the State’s witnesses throughout the trial. The district court denied relief as to that claim but sua sponte granted a certificate of appealability (COA). Subsequently, this panel granted a COA as to a second issue raised in Sechrest’s opening brief, “Ground 41” of the petition, in which Sechrest argued that the cumulative effect of the prosecutorial misconduct that pervaded his trial deprived him of his right to a fair…