(HC) Martinez v. Johnson

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 CRISTINA MARIE MARTINEZ, No. 2:16-cv-1302 MCE AC Petitioner, v. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS DEBORAH K. JOHNSON, Warden Respondent. 16 Petitioner is a California state prisoner proceeding pro se with an application for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The action proceeds on a petition which challenges petitioner’s 2011 conviction for special circumstances murder, and resulting sentence of life without the possibility of parole. ECF No. 1. Respondent has answered, ECF No. 10, and petitioner has filed a traverse, ECF No. 11. BACKGROUND I. Proceedings In the Trial Court A. Preliminary Proceedings Petitioner and her boyfriend, Robert Lee Hammons, were charged in Sacramento County with the 2004 robbery and murder of Clayton Skinner. Petitioner was charged with (1) murder, with the special circumstance of killing while engaged in robbery and burglary; (2) first…