Alcala

Jeanne Woodford, Warden of California’s San Quentin State Prison (“California”), appeals the district court’s conditional grant of habeas relief to petitioner Rodney J. Alcala. Alcala was sentenced to death following his conviction for first-degree murder. He is currently in prison.

California argues that the district court (1) incorrectly found that Alcala’s trial counsel had been constitutionally ineffective in presenting Alcala’s alibi, (2) improperly found that the state trial court committed constitutional error in excluding the testimony of defense witness Dr. Ray London, (3) erred in concluding that the state trial court’s denial of Alcala’s request for an independent medical examination of prosecution witness Dana Crappa violated the Sixth Amendment, and (4) erroneously aggregated non-constitutional errors in its cumulative error analysis.

Alcala cross-appeals, challenging the district court’s conclusions that (1) Alcala’s constitutional rights were not violated when the state trial court admitted Crap-pa’s prior testimony; (2) the exclusion of defense witnesses Tim Fallen, Gerald Crawford, and Raul Vasquez did not deny Alcala a fair trial; (3) the admission of…