Mitchell v. People of the State of California

I. BACKGROUND

18 A jury convicted Petitioner of kidnapping (count 1); assault with a firearm (count 19 2); torture (count 3); rape by a foreign object acting in concert (count 4); assault with a 20 deadly weapon, a hunting knife (count 5); attempted pandering by procuring (count 6); and 21 human trafficking for commercial sex (count 7). See Dkt. No. 21 at 46-50; Dkt. No. 21-2 22 at 2-5; see also Cal. Pen. Code, §§ 206, 207, 236.1(b), 245(a)(1)-(2), 264.1, 266i(a)(1), 23 289(a). 24 25

27 1 Petitioner was tried with two co-defendants, Paul Booker and Jason Beasley. Petitioner was sentenced to 45 years to life in state prison, comprised of 25 years to life on count 4 (penetration with a foreign object acting in concert), 20 years on count 7 (human trafficking), and a life term on count 3 (torture). Dkt. No. 21-1 at 11. On May 14, 2019, the California Court of Appeal (“state appellate court”) affirmed the judgment. See Dkt. No. 30-2 at 242-65; see also People v. Mitchell, No. A150156, A150433, 2019 WL 2098789 (Cal. Ct. App. May 14, 2019) (unpublished). On August 21, 2019, the California Supreme Court summarily denied a petition for…