Washington v. David Shinn

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

THEODORE WASHINGTON, No. 05-99009 Petitioner-Appellant, D.C. No. v. CV-95-02460-JAT

DAVID SHINN, Director, Respondent-Appellee. OPINION

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona James A. Teilborg, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted September 8, 2021 San Francisco, California

Filed December 20, 2021

Before: Ronald M. Gould, Consuelo M. Callahan, and Lawrence VanDyke, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Callahan SUMMARY *

Habeas Corpus/Death Penalty

The panel affirmed the district court’s denial of Theodore Washington’s habeas corpus petition challenging his Arizona conviction and death sentence for first-degree murder.

Washington asserted that he is entitled to relief on several grounds, the majority of which the panel addressed in a memorandum disposition filed on January 15, 2021. In this opinion, the panel addressed Washington’s certified claim for ineffective assistance of trial counsel—that counsel did not investigate and present mitigating evidence at the penalty phase, including…