Stafford B. Davis v. Jeanne S. Woodford, Director, California Department of Corrections

In 2000, a state-court jury convicted Petitioner Stafford B. Davis of being a felon in possession of a firearm and of evading a peace officer. The state court sentenced him to 25 years to life in prison under California’s Three Strikes Law, counting as eight “strikes” a 1986 California conviction that involved eight robberies. After unsuccessful state appeals and state habe-as petitions, Petitioner filed this federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus. He now appeals the district court’s denial of his requested relief, arguing primarily that the use of his 1986 conviction as eight separate “strikes” breached the 1986 plea agreement. We agree.

In 1986 the state expressly agreed to treat the robbery conviction as only one “strike” for purposes of later recidivist sentencing, so counting that conviction as eight “strikes” violated the terms of Petitioner’s plea agreement. The California Supreme Court’s denial of Petitioner’s state habeas petition was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in the light of the evidence presented in state court, 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d)(2), and involved an unreasonable application of clearly established Supreme Court precedent, San-tobello…