Charles Stevens v. Ron Davis

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

CHARLES STEVENS, No. 19-99004 Petitioner-Appellant, D.C. No. v. 3:09-cv-00137-

WHA

RONALD DAVIS, Warden, San Quentin State Prison, Respondent-Appellee. OPINION

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California William Alsup, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted July 19, 2021 Pasadena, California

Filed February 14, 2022

Before: Sandra S. Ikuta, Paul J. Watford, and Daniel P. Collins, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Ikuta SUMMARY*

Habeas Corpus / Death Penalty

The panel affirmed the district court’s judgment denying federal habeas relief to Charles Stevens, who was convicted by a California jury of four murders and six attempted murders, and sentenced to death.

Stevens claimed that the prosecutor’s decision to strike black prospective jurors constituted purposeful discrimination on the basis of race, in violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 476

U.S. 79 (1986).

Stevens claimed that the California Supreme Court made an unreasonable determination of the facts in upholding the trial…