Case Summaries

Criminal Law & Procedure

[08/27] P. v. Bolton
Conviction for assault with a deadly weapon, mayhem, battery, and resisting an officer is reversed and remanded where the trial court erred in relieving defendant's attorney just a few days prior to trial, based on the attorney's assertion that a conflict of interest existed.

[08/27] P. v. Morris
Conviction for grand theft, receiving stolen property, and two prison prior allegations is affirmed in part and reversed in part where the conviction of receiving stolen property must be reversed as it was based upon his possession of the very same property that formed the basis of his grand theft conviction.

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Habeas Corpus

[08/27] Toliver v. McCaughtry
In a first-degree murder case, denial of habeas relief on the basis of both ineffective assistance of counsel and a Brady claim is reversed and remanded where: 1) the state court did not resolve factual questions of whether petitioner's trial counsel's performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness, and whether the prosecutor had received a letter that should have been disclosed as Brady evidence; 2) counsel's failure to introduce certain evidence prejudiced petitioner; and 3) the letter allegedly withheld by the prosecution would have constituted material, exculpatory evidence.

[08/26] Wooten v. Kirkland
Dismissal of a petition for habeas relief from a conviction for first degree murder is affirmed where: 1) the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying petitioner's motion to stay his mixed petition as petitioner's "impression" that his counsel had exhausted an unexhausted claim did not constitute "good cause" for failure to exhaust that claim; and 2) the district court properly dismissed the habeas petition as mixed.

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