Stoltie v. Tilton

Opinion

FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

BRIAN JOSEPH STOLTIE,  Petitioner-Appellee, No. 07-56079 v.  D.C. No. CV-06-00289-DDP JAMES E. TILTON, Secretary of the Department of Corrections, OPINION Respondent-Appellant.  Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Dean D. Pregerson, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted August 6, 2008—Pasadena, California

Filed August 19, 2008

Before: Stephen Reinhardt, Circuit Judge, Roger J. Miner,* Senior Circuit Judge and Marsha S. Berzon, Circuit Judge.

Per Curiam Opinion

*The Honorable Roger J. Miner, Senior United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit, sitting by designation.

11025 11026 STOLTIE v. TILTON COUNSEL

Jonathan Libby, Deputy Federal Public Defender, Los Ange- les, California, for the petitioner-appellee.

Heather F. Crawford, Deputy Attorney General for the State of California, San Diego, California, for the respondent- appellant.

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

We AFFIRM the district court’s decision, and adopt its opinion in Stoltie v. California, reported at 501 F. Supp.2d 1252 (C.D. Cal. 2007), except for Section III.C., as to which we express no view. As the state acknowledged at oral argu- ment, even the state appellate court misunderstood the con- fused and confusing explanation of reasonable doubt provided to the jury by the trial judge. This error led it to apply in an unreasonable manner clearly established Supreme Court law regarding reasonable doubt. Sullivan v. Louisiana, 508 U.S. 275 (1993); Cage v. Louisiana, 498 U.S. 39 (1990), overruled on other grounds by Estelle v. McGuire, 502 U.S. 62 (1991); In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358 (1970).

AFFIRMED. PRINTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE—U.S. COURTS BY THOMSON REUTERS/WEST—SAN FRANCISCO

The summary, which does not constitute a part of the opinion of the court, is copyrighted © 2008 Thomson Reuters/West.