Reno v. Ron Davis

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

RENO, No. 17-99004 Petitioner-Appellant, D.C. No. v. 2:96-cv-02768-

CBM

RONALD DAVIS, Warden, California State Prison at San Quentin, Respondent-Appellee. OPINION

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Consuelo B. Marshall, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted March 22, 2022 Pasadena, California

Filed August 19, 2022

Before: Consuelo M. Callahan, Andrew D. Hurwitz, and Bridget S. Bade, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Callahan SUMMARY *

Habeas Corpus/Death Penalty

The panel affirmed the district court’s denial of Reno’s amended 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas corpus petition challenging his California conviction, on retrial, and death sentence for two first-degree murders and one second-degree murder.

The district court issued a certificate of appealability on two issues: Reno’s due process claims regarding the destruction of police records (Claims 17 and 18); and the state trial court’s failure to instruct the jury on Cal. Penal Code § 272, which Reno asserted was a…