Bradway

INTRODUCTION

In 2001, Bradway was charged with first degree murder by means of lying in wait. The special circumstance of lying in wait was also charged, making Bradway eligible for a penalty of death or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. See Cal. Penal Code §§ 189, 190.2(a)(15). In the trial court, 15862 BRADWAY v. CATE Bradway successfully moved to dismiss the lying in wait spe- cial circumstance as impermissibly vague, but the California Court of Appeal overturned that ruling and reinstated the spe- cial circumstance charge. People v. Superior Court (Bradway I), 129 Cal. Rptr. 2d 324 (Cal. Ct. App. 2003). The appellate court found some overlap in the two statutes, but held that the lying in wait special circumstance required specific intent to kill, while the first degree murder statute did not. Id. at 333. Bradway was then convicted and sentenced to life without parole. Relief under the same vagueness claim was denied in subsequent state habeas proceedings and by the district court in this federal habeas action. The district court held that Cali- fornia sufficiently distinguished the lying in wait special cir- cumstance from the the lying in…