Patrick James JEFFRIES, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Tana WOOD, Superintendent, Respondent-Appellant

The'State of Washington, in the name of its chief prison official, appeals the judgment which, after a remand from this court, granted Patrick James Jeffries’ petition for a writ of habeas corpus. In 1983, Jeffries was convicted in Clallam County Superior Court and sentenced to death on two counts of aggravated first-degree murder.

The Washington Supreme Court affirmed Jeffries’ conviction and sentence on direct appeal. State v. Jeffries, 105 Wash.2d 398 , 717 P.2d 722 ), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 922 , 107 S.Ct. 328 , 93 L.Ed.2d 301 (1986). Jeffries filed three personal restraint petitions in state court, all of which the Washington Supreme Court denied. In re Jeffries, 722 P.2d 99 (1986); In re Jeffries, 110 Wash.2d 326 , 752 P.2d 1338 , cert. denied, 488 U.S. 948 , 109 S.Ct. 379 , 102 L.Ed.2d 368 (1988); In re Jeffries, 114 Wash.2d 485 , 789 P.2d 731 (1990).

Two years after Jeffries was sentenced, two jurors filed affidavits, describing a juror’s misconduct. (A juror, during a recess while the trial was in progress, had, indeed, told one or more fellow jurors that Jeffries was an ex-convict, on parole, for a prior robbery, at the time he was accused of robbing and…