Donald Paradis v. A.J. Arave, Warden, Idaho State Penitentiary Al Murphy, Director, Idaho State Correctional Institution

Donald Paradis, a state prisoner, appeals from the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

Paradis seeks review of his conviction on the following grounds:

One. The evidence was insufficient to demonstrate that Kimberly Palmer was killed in the state of Idaho.

Two. The state failed to preserve exculpatory evidence.

Three. The introduction of evidence of another murder for which he was acquitted deprived him of his right to due process and violated the Double Jeopardy Clause.

Four. He was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel.

Five. He was denied a fair trial by the prosecutor’s misconduct.

Six. The state trial judge erred in refusing to grant Paradis’ motion for change of venue.

We conclude that Paradis has failed to demonstrate a violation of his federal constitutional rights during the guilt phase of the state-court proceedings. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s denial of that portion of the petition for habeas corpus relief regarding the judgment of conviction for first-degree murder.

Paradis also alleges that Idaho’s death-penalty statute is unconstitutional. In our decision in Creech v. Arave, 947 F.2d 873 (9th…