Sharp

MEMORANDUM *

The State of Washington appeals the district court’s grant of Michael Sharp’s habeas petition on grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 2258. We affirm the district court’s grant of the writ.

I

As the parties are familiar with the facts and procedural history, we recite them only to the extent necessary to explain our analysis.

Sharp was charged with two counts of rape of his daughter. The state court conducted a pretrial hearing to determine whether the child was competent to testify and determined that she was not. The court, however, concluded that all of the child’s out-of-court statements to her mother, the psychologist, a police officer and a teacher bore adequate indicia of reliability and therefore were admissible through the testimony of these individuals.

Sharp’s counsel sought to present evidence that the mother previously had made false accusations against her prior husband of sexually molesting their son, had accused her own father of abusing her, and had assisted her day-care provider in making a child-abuse accusation against her husband. The trial court reviewed in camera sealed files…