Brown

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Crimes of Conviction

In 1977, two elderly widows—neighbors in the same apart- ment building in Long Beach, California—were beaten to death during burglaries of their residences. Vernita Curtis, eighty-one, was found lying unconscious on her bedroom floor on August 29, 1977. Her face was swollen and severely bruised. She had suffered multiple injuries to her head, neck, and chest, and died in the hospital four days later. Less than two weeks later, her next door neighbor, Gladys Ott, ninety, was found dead in her bed. The injuries suffered by Ott were even more severe, and included bruises on her face, broken ribs, a fractured sternum, a detached lung, and extensive lac- erations to her vagina. Various household items were missing 1 The district court’s conditional grant gives the State of California 120 days from the entry of judgment to either retry Jackson as to the special circumstances findings or vacate the special circumstances findings and death sentence. Judgment was entered but stayed pending this appeal. 2 If the district court judgment stands, Jackson cannot be re-sentenced to death unless the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office first…