Patrick James Jeffries v. James Blodgett, Superintendent

Patrick James Jeffries appeals the judgment which denied his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. He was convicted.in the State of Washington and sentenced to death on two counts of aggravated first-degree murder. The district judge carefully considered the 18 alleged constitutional violations asserted in the petition and explained, in detail, why none required federal intervention. Jeffries v. Blodgett, 771 F.Supp. 1520 (W.D.Wash.1991). We agree, and affirm.

While there was no eyewitness to the murders, the state produced evidence from which the jury could find that Jeffries killed Phillip Skiff by firing seven .22 cali-bre bullets into his body, and killed Inez Skiff by firing ten .22 calibre bullets into her body. He then buried his victims in shallow graves on their property, and told inquiring neighbors various false stories about their whereabouts. Either before or after the murders, Jeffries helped himself to the currency, gold, weapons and other personal property of the victims. He headed for Canada, leaving a trail of stolen property and witnesses who saw him selling or attempting to sell items stolen from the Skiffs. He was also seen flashing large quantities of…