Diaz

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 LONNIE JANES KERLEY, No. 2:19-cv-02458 JAM GGH P 12 Petitioner, 13 v. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 14 RALPH DIAZ, Warden, 15 Respondent. 16 17 18 Introduction and Summary 19 Petitioner, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, has filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus 20 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. ECF No. 1. The matter was referred to the United States Magistrate 21 Judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 626(b)(1) and Local Rule 302. 22 In a case which initially, it appears, could have come directly out of the script for a 23 Forensic Files episode given the years it took to identify the victim, petitioner, a long time 24 domestic abuser, was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 15 years to life 25 imprisonment. Unlike Forensic Files, however, there were no eyewitnesses, very little, if any, 26 forensic evidence linking Kerley to the murder; even the autopsy findings regarding cause of 27 death of the victim were hotly disputed given the years it took to…