Darnell LUCKY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Arthur CALDERON, Warden, Respondent-Appellee
Opinion
Opinion
Farris, J.
Darnell Lucky appeals the district court’s order dismissing his habeas petition. The district court held that it lacked jurisdiction because the petition was unauthorized. It also held that, lacking jurisdiction, it could not evaluate Lucky’s mental competence to waive his right to federal habeas review. We reverse.
BACKGROUND
Lucky was convicted and sentenced to death in 1982. The California Supreme Court upheld the conviction and sentence in 1988. See People v. Lucky, 45 Cal.3d 259 , 247 Cal.Rptr. 1 , 753 P.2d 1052 (1988).
On November 30, 1990, Lucky’s counsel, Monica Knox, filed a “Motion to Schedule Hearing on Sanity and Competency” in the Los Angeles Superior Court. In an affidavit accompanying the motion, she stated:
The superior court denied the motion for a competency hearing.
Lucky’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus was filed on February 1, 1991. In an affidavit accompanying the petition, Knox stated that she was verifying the petition on Lucky’s behalf because “(1) he is incarcerated in Marin County at San Quentin State Prison; (2) of the emergency nature of this petition for writ of habeas corpus and application for issuance of a writ staying execution of his…