Jamal Shakir v. Edward Alameida, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

A California jury found Jamal Asim Shakir guilty of kidnapping for extortion, and a judge sentenced him to life in prison with the possibility of parole. The conviction arose from Shakir’s attempt in July 1996 to reclaim his laptop computer and his abduction of Philip Martin in connection with that effort. Shakir’s conviction was affirmed on direct appeal in the California state courts and was upheld in state post-conviction review. Shakir petitioned the district court for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . The district court granted Shakir’s petition, finding that there was insufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find Shakir guilty of aggravated kidnapping under California Penal Code § 209(a). The district court denied his other claims. Both respondent and Shakir appeal.

1. We conclude that the district court erred in finding that insufficient evidence supported Shakir’s conviction for aggravated kidnapping under California Penal Code § 209(a). When considering a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we consider “whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have…