Victor Eugene Rios v. Teresa Rocha, Warden

Opinion by Judge REINHARDT; Dissent by Judge FERNANDEZ.

OPINION

In the early morning hours of November 22, 1986, James Hampton, a member of the “Bloods” street gang, was shot and killed in front of the A/C Pizza and Deli in Sacramento, California. There were somewhere between 50 and 200 patrons at the location that night, many of whom were drinking and partying outside the establishment at the time the shots were *799 fired. 1 Among those present were members of both the “Crips” and “Bloods,” rival street gangs. In March of 1987, Victor Rios and John Lewis were charged with Hampton’s murder. At their joint state court trial, Lewis presented a mis-identification defense 2 while Rios presented an unconsciousness defense. 3 The jury-acquitted Lewis, but found Rios guilty of second-degree murder with the personal use of a firearm in violation of California Penal Code §§ 187,189, and 12022.5. After denying Rios’s motion for a new trial, the trial judge sentenced him to fifteen years to life for the murder conviction and a two-year consecutive sentence for the use of a firearm.

Rios appealed his conviction, but his direct appeals were denied. He then filed a state habeas corpus…

Dissenting:

It is true, as the majority emphasizes, that attorney Castro initially decided on the unconsciousness defense before he had conducted an extensive investigation. Of course, one does have to start thinking about the proper approach early on, 1 but what is significant is that Castro saw a great deal of information thereafter and saw no reason to change his initial approach. With perfect 20/20 hindsight, we can decide that he should have done more investigation, but that is not the standard.

As it is, Castro’s client did not even deny committing the murder, 2 and it was clear that the injured and outraged Rios did plan a murderous assault, 3 returned to the scene of the beating to carry it out, 4 and after the shooting fled the scene and the state. Interestingly enough, during that lengthy flight, which took him as far as Ohio, Rios said, “[w]hy did it have to happen,” in response to discovering that Hampton was dead. One can properly assume that it was not a feeling of human empathy for the brute who had beaten him into a state of alleged amnesia that caused the exclamation. 5 Most likely, it was an admission that his revenge had gotten him into a real mess.

Moreover,…

299 F.3d 796 Victor Eugene RIOS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Teresa ROCHA, Warden, Respondent-Appellee. No. 01-15835. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted March 11, 2002. Filed July 31, 2002. COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED Quin Denver, Federal Defender and Ann C. McClintock, Assistant Federal Defender, Sacramento, CA, for the petitioner-appellant. Bill Lockyer, Attorney General for the State of California; Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General; Jo Graves, Senior Assistant Attorney General; John G. Mclean, Supervising Deputy Attorney General; and Harry Joseph Colombo, Deputy Attorney General, Sacramento, CA, for the respondent-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California; Frank C. Damrell, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-94-00209-FCD. Before REINHARDT, NOONAN, and FERNANDEZ, Circuit Judges. Opinion by Judge REINHARDT; Dissent by Judge FERNANDEZ. OPINION REINHARDT, Circuit Judge. 1 In the early morning hours of November 22, 1986, James Hampton, a member of the "Bloods" street gang, was shot and killed in front of the A/C Pizza and Deli in Sacramento, California. There were somewhere…