David Rademaker v. Daniel Paramo

Kimberly Pandelios disáppeared on February 27, 1992. In March 1998, hikers discovered some of her remains in the Ange-les National Forest but her disappearance remained a mystery until 2004, when evidence surfaced linking David Rademaker to her death. At Rademaker’s trial, the evidence established that Rademaker lured Pandelios to a secluded location on the Angeles Crest Highway for a photo shoot, then abducted and drowned her in a nearby creek. A jury convicted Rademaker of first-degree murder. Based on an erroneous jury instruction regarding the element of asportation, the jury also found true the special circumstance that Rademaker committed the murder during the commission of a kidnapping. The California Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction on direct appeal. People v. Rademaker, No. B190134, 2007 WL 1982272 (Cal. Ct. App. July 10, 2007), modified on denial ofreh’g (July 27, 2007). Applying Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24 , 87 S.Ct. 824 , 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967), the court found the instructional error “harmless beyond a reasonable doubt” under state law. On ha-beas review and subject to the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), 28 U.S.C. §…