Jesus Avila v. George M. Galaza, Warden Attorney General of the State of California
Opinion
Opinion
Pregerson, J.
Jesus Avila (“Jesus”) appeals the district court’s denial of his federal habeas corpus petition. Jesus was convicted in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, California, of attempted murder with the use of a firearm and sentenced to life plus eight years. Jesus asserts, among other claims in his state and federal habeas petitions, that he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel because his attorney failed to investigate or introduce at trial any evidence that Jesus’s brother, Ernesto Avila (“Ernesto”), was the shooter. Following an evidentiary hearing in state court (“state habeas hearing”), Jesus’s state ha-beas petition was denied. The district court adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation to deny Jesus’s federal habeas petition. We hold that Jesus’s trial counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel because he failed to investigate and introduce evidence that would have raised a reasonable doubt about Jesus’s guilt, and therefore reverse and remand this case to the district court with directions to issue the writ of habeas corpus unless California retries the defendant within 90 days.