Clifford Lamere v. William Slaughter, Director, Department of Corrections Mike Mahoney, Warden, Montana State Prison

Petitioner Clifford LaMere seeks a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . In his state court trial, LaMere unsuccessfully moved for a directed verdict of acquittal at the close of the State’s case-in-chief, as he was permitted to do under Montana law. He contends that he is entitled to habeas relief under In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358 , 90 S.Ct. 1068 , 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970), and Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 , 99 S.Ct. 2781 , 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), because the State failed to introduce sufficient evidence of his guilt during its case-in-chief. We con- elude that Winship and Jackson do not apply to a motion for directed verdict of acquittal at the close of the State’s case-in-chief. We therefore affirm the district court’s denial of the writ.

I. Facts and Proceedings Below

On March 13, 1997, petitioner LaMere killed Steven Brownlee in an alley behind Brownlee’s apartment in Great Falls, Montana. LaMere admitted that he killed Brownlee but disputed the circumstances of the killing.

LaMere had two jury trials in Montana state court. During the first trial, LaM-ere, a Native American, argued that he had acted in self defense. The jury acquitted LaMere of deliberate…