Philip Sands v. Greg Lewis

MEMORANDUM

A California jury convicted Philip Leo Sands of stabbing Robin Clarke and, two years later, murdering Robert Ramirez — a witness to the stabbing. Sands’s conviction was affirmed on direct appeal in the California state courts, and then in state post-conviction review. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 , Sands petitioned the district court for a writ of habeas corpus. The district court denied Sands’s petition; Sands appeals. We have jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. § 2253 (a), affirm the district court’s judgment as to the two issues it certified for appeal, and decline to address a third, uncertified issue that Sands raises.

First, Sands contends that his entire trial was tainted by snide and disparaging remarks the prosecutor made about defense counsel during her rebuttal to the defense’s closing. See Darden v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 168, 181 , 106 S.Ct. 2464 , 91 L.Ed.2d 144 (1986) (holding that a defendant may be denied due process if a prosecutor’s remarks infect the trial with unfairness). While we disapprove of the prosecutor’s conduct, we do not believe it imbued the entire trial with unfairness, and in any event, Sands’s counsel failed to register a timely objection to the…