Karen Sue Morris v. State of California Ventura County Municipal Court Attorney General of the State of California

Appellant Karen Sue Morris appeals the district court’s denial of her petition for a writ of habeas corpus. In September 1985, Ms. Morris was convicted by a Ventura County Municipal Court jury on one count of being under the influence of cocaine in violation of California Health & Safety Code § 11550(a). She challenges this conviction on the ground that she received ineffective assistance of counsel. The district court had jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . We have jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253 . We reverse and remand to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion, although we affirm certain of the findings and conclusions below.

I. FACTS

At 2:00 a.m. on April 14,1985, Karen Sue Morris and her husband James were driving on one of Southern California’s many freeways when their car malfunctioned. Mr. Morris drove off the freeway and turned into a closed gas station to use a pay phone to summon help. Deputy De Los Santos of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department was sitting in a patrol car nearby. While Mr. Morris was using the telephone, Ms. Morris walked over to Deputy De Los Santos to find out where they were. In…