Ambrose Gill v. Robert J. Ayers, Warden Attorney General of the State of California

Opinion by Judge DAVID R. THOMPSON; Dissent by Judge RAWLINSON.

ORDER

In response to the State’s petition for rehearing, the opinion filed March 6, 2003, No. 01-55808, appearing at 322 F.3d 678 , together with Judge Rawlinson’s dissent, is WITHDRAWN. That opinion may not be cited as precedent by or to this court or any district court of the Ninth Circuit. A new opinion with Judge Rawlinson’s dissent is filed herewith.

The parties may file further petitions for rehearing and for rehearing en banc.

OPINION

I

California state prisoner Ambrose Gill appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . Gill, serving a sentence of 55 years to life under California’s “Three Strikes Law,” contends that he was denied due process of law at his Three Strikes sentencing hearing.

In 1976, Gill was convicted of one count of assault with a deadly weapon and three counts of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, all in violation of California Penal Code section 245(a)(collectively, the “1976 conviction”). Under California’s Three Strikes scheme, the 1976 conviction could only count as a “strike” upon a finding…

dissenting:

I respectfully dissent.

As we recently acknowledged, federal habeas relief should not be granted lightly. Rather, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”) “imposes a highly deferential standard for evaluating state-court rulings[;] demands that state court decisions be given the benefit of the doubt”[;] and mandates “our full respect” for rulings of our “co-equal judiciary.” Clark v. Murphy, 317 F.3d 1038, 1043 (9th Cir.2003) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).

With those cautions in mind, I proceed to the first inquiry accompanying habeas review: “whether the state court erred at all.” Id. at 1044 (citation omitted). If the state court committed no error, our habeas inquiry ends. See id.

*923 Petitioner Ambrose Gill (“Gill”) was convicted in 1976 of one count of assault with a deadly weapon and three counts of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury. During an interview with a probation officer, Gill admitted that he personally wielded a baseball bat during a Saturday-night fracas. Fast forward to 1997, with Gill facing a possible life sentence under California’s “Three Strikes Law.” Twenty-one years…

342 F.3d 911 Ambrose Gill, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Robert J. Ayers, Warden; Attorney General of the State of California, Respondents-Appellees. No. 01-55808. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted September 12, 2002 — Pasadena, California. Filed August 28, 2003. COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED Ralph H. Goldsen, Goleta, California, for the petitioner-appellant. Teresa Torreblanca, Deputy Attorney General, San Diego, California, for the respondents-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California; Alicemarie H. Stotler, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-00-00541-AHS. Before: David R. Thompson and Johnnie B. Rawlinson, Circuit Judges and William W Schwarzer, * Senior District Judge. Opinion by Judge David R. Thompson; Dissent by Judge Rawlinson. ORDER In response to the State's petition for rehearing, the opinion filed March 6, 2003, No. 01-55808, appearing at 322 F.3d 678 , together with Judge Rawlinson's dissent, is WITHDRAWN. That opinion may not be cited as precedent by or to this court or any district court of the Ninth Circuit. A new opinion with Judge Rawlinson's dissent is filed herewith. The…