Larry Wayne Thomas v. Susan Hubbard, Warden

Larry Thomas appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus asserting that his conviction for first degree murder and personal use of a deadly weapon should be reversed because of a number of prejudicial errors. Specifically, he contends that the jury was prejudiced by several confrontation and due process clause violations at trial including: (1) the improper introduction of triple hearsay statements; (2) prosecutorial misconduct in eliciting evidence about the prior use of firearms in violation of an in limine order; and (3) the improper truncation of the cross-examination of the lead investigating officer regarding the attempts of the purported eyewitness (who, according to the defense’s theory, was the actual killer) to evade the police. In light of the fact that the prosecution’s case was based almost entirely on the eyewitness testimony of a single accusing witness who himself had the opportunity and a possible motive to commit the offense, we hold that collectively the errors require the issuance of the writ.

A. BACKGROUND

On December 22, 1993, Michael Luke was found stabbed to death in the parking lot of the Cambridge Garden Apartments in…