Mitchell Carlton Sims v. Jill Brown, Warden

I concur in the majority’s disposition of Sims’s guilt-phase claims, but I must respectfully dissent from the denial of habe-as relief with respect to Sims’s death sentence, and in particular from Parts III-B, VI, and IX of the majority opinion.

I view this case through a different lens than does the majority. I conclude that constitutional error infected Sims’s trial in two respects that I will elaborate. I then turn to Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. 619 , 113 S.Ct. 1710 , 123 L.Ed.2d 353 (1993), to determine whether the constitutional errors had “substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury’s verdict.” Id. at 623 , 113 S.Ct. 1710 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). I add the gloss of O’Neal v. McAninch, 513 U.S. 432 , 115 S.Ct. 992 , 130 L.Ed.2d 947 (1995), which instructs that if there is “grave doubt” as to the effect of the constitutional errors, the petitioner is entitled to relief. Id. at 436 , 115 S.Ct. 992 .

In this death penalty case, I take this “grave doubt” standard very seriously and have viewed this case in that light. I conclude that the determination of guilt must stand despite constitutional error. In my view, it did not…

In 1987, Mitchell Carlton Sims was convicted of the first degree murder of John Harrigan, a Domino’s Pizza employee who delivered a pizza to Sims and his girlfriend, Ruby Padgett, at their motel room in Glendale, and the attempted murders of two other Domino’s employees, Kory Spi-roff and Edward Sicam. He was sentenced to death. The California Supreme Court affirmed. People v. Sims, 5 Cal.4th 405 , 20 Cal.Rptr.2d 537 , 853 P.2d 992 (1993), cert. denied, Sims v. California, 512 U.S. 1253 , 114 S.Ct. 2782 , 129 L.Ed.2d 893 (1994). After the supreme court denied Sims’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus, Sims filed a 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on April 22, 1996. Following an evidentiary hearing, the district court denied all of Sims’s claims on May 2, 2003.

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA) does not apply to the merits of Sims’s appeal because his federal petition was filed before AEDPA’s effective date, Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320, 327 , 117 S.Ct. 2059 , 138 L.Ed.2d 481 (1997), but it does apply to the procedures for seeking review. Accordingly, Sims obtained a Certificate…

425 F.3d 560 Mitchell Carlton SIMS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Jill BROWN, Warden, * Respondent-Appellee. No. 03-99007. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted June 9, 2005. Filed September 21, 2005. COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED Trevor W. Morrison and John H. Blume, Cornell Law School, Ithaca, NY, for the petitioner-appellant. David F. Glassman, Deputy Attorney General, Los Angeles, CA, for the respondent-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California; George H. King, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-95-05267-GHK. Before: B. FLETCHER, RYMER, and FISHER, Circuit Judges. RYMER, Circuit Judge: 1 In 1987, Mitchell Carlton Sims was convicted of the first degree murder of John Harrigan, a Domino's Pizza employee who delivered a pizza to Sims and his girlfriend, Ruby Padgett, at their motel room in Glendale, and the attempted murders of two other Domino's employees, Kory Spiroff and Edward Sicam. He was sentenced to death. The California Supreme Court affirmed. People v. Sims, 5 Cal.4th 405 , 20 Cal.Rptr.2d 537 , 853 P.2d 992 (1993), cert. denied, Sims v. California, 512 U.S. 1253 , 114 S.Ct. 2782 , 129 L.Ed.2d…