Richard Williams v. Cheryl Pliler

MEMORANDUM

When we initially heard this case, the state informed us that de novo review applied to Petitioner’s Batson claim, and we so held. See Williams v. Pliler, 411 Fed.Appx. 954, 955 (9th Cir.2011). We then remanded for the district court to “conduct a full step-three inquiry.” Id. The district court conducted such an inquiry de novo, found that the peremptory strike at issue was motivated in substantial part by race, and ordered the state to release or re-try Williams. We affirm.

I. Standard of Review

The state now argues, despite its initial position and our initial holding that the standard of review was de novo, that we should apply a deferential standard of review. Our earlier holding that the standard of review was de novo constitutes the law of the case. The law of the case doctrine “posits that when a court decides upon a rule of law, that decision should continue to govern the same issues in subsequent stages in the same ease.” Pepper v. United States, 562 U.S. 476, 506 , 131 S.Ct. 1229 , 179 L.Ed.2d 196 (2011) (citation omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted). Here, the district court relied on our decision that de novo review was the proper standard of…