LeRon Howard v. Colby Braun, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 12036

LaRon Howard was convicted in North Dakota state court of murder and criminal conspiracy for the April 2011 killing of Abdi Ahmed; the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and state postconviction relief was denied.
Howard filed a § 2254 habeas petition claiming his conspiracy conviction violated due process because the evidence was insufficient to prove an agreement to murder Ahmed; the district court denied relief and the Eighth Circuit granted a COA limited to the sufficiency question.
Facts: Howard and Janelle Cave left a party with Ahmed; Howard struck and dragged Ahmed, who was still alive, placed him in Cave’s car, and they drove to a third party (Jones) while Ahmed remained unconscious/injured in the car.
At Jones’s house Howard and Cave brought a sword, discussed disposing of a body, and made comments about avoiding fingerprints; they left Ahmed in the car without seeking medical help.
Later the car stopped, Ahmed was pulled out and stabbed with a sword (testimony varied as to who did the stabbing); Howard and Cave disposed of the sword and attempted concealment; medical evidence showed both blunt force and stab wounds and defensive wounds, indicating Ahmed was alive at the time of stabbing.
The Eighth Circuit reviewed whether, under Jackson/AEDPA standards, the North Dakota Supreme Court reasonably concluded the evidence sufficed to support a conspiracy-to-murder conviction.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Howard)	Defendant's Argument (State)	Held
Whether evidence was sufficient to support conspiracy-to-murder conviction	No implicit or explicit agreement to kill Ahmed; at most a post‑fact concealment conspiracy	Conduct during and after the assault (joint actions, trip to Jones, sword, comments, abandonment, disposal) supports an implicit agreement to kill and conceal	Evidence was constitutionally sufficient; conviction affirmed

Garcia v. Mathes, 474 F.3d 1014 (8th Cir. 2007) (standard of review for habeas factual and legal determinations)
Garrison v. Burt, 637 F.3d 849 (8th Cir. 2011) (Jackson sufficiency standard explained in circuit precedent)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) (evidence sufficient if any rational trier of fact could find elements beyond a reasonable doubt)
Cole v. Roper, 623 F.3d 1183 (8th Cir. 2010) (AEDPA deference in habeas review of state-court decisions)
Grunewald v. United States, 353 U.S. 391 (1957) (limitations on using post‑fact concealment to prove federal conspiracy without evidence of agreement)
State v. Howard, 838 N.W.2d 416 (N.D. 2013) (state-court affirmance of Howard’s convictions)
State v. Burgard, 458 N.W.2d 274 (N.D. 1990) (elements of criminal conspiracy under North Dakota law)
State v. Cain, 806 N.W.2d 597 (N.D. 2011) (agreement may be implicit and formed while offense is ongoing)
State v. Clark, 868 N.W.2d 363 (N.D. 2015) (actions during and after a killing can support an inference of conspiracy)