Ybarra v. McDaniel
2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 18470
| 9th Cir. | 2011Background
- Ybarra was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1979 kidnapping, rape, and murder of Nancy Griffith in Ely, Nevada.
- Nevada Supreme Court affirmed direct conviction; post-conviction relief pursued; federal habeas petitions filed thereafter.
- District court dismissed several claims as procedurally barred under Nev. Rev. Stat. § 34.800 and required abandonment of unexhausted claims.
- Ybarra challenged several district-court rulings via a Certificate of Appealability, including impartial-jury, jury-instruction, and cumulative-error claims.
- Court of Appeals reviews under AEDPA, addressing exhaustion, merits, and whether cumulative error warrants relief; overall denial of habeas relief affirmed.
- Key issues include procedural-bar dismissal, exhaustion of impartial-jury claim, constitutionality and harmlessness of the depravity-of-mind instruction, and lack of cumulative-error warrant.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adequacy of Nevada’s laches rule | Ybarra | McDaniel | Rule adequate; barring federal review |
| Exhaustion of impartial-jury claim | Ybarra exhausted | McDaniel | Exhausted; denied on merits |
| Penalty-phase depravity-of-mind instruction | Ybarra | McDaniel | Constitutional error, but harmless under Brecht |
| Prosecutorial misconduct and ineffective assistance for failure to object | Ybarra | McDaniel | COA granted for exhaustion, but merits denial |
| Cumulative error affecting due process | Ybarra | McDaniel | No cumulative-error warrant for relief |
Key Cases Cited
- Earp v. Ornoski, 431 F.3d 1158 (9th Cir. 2005) (AEDPA review standards and de novo review)
- Moran v. McDaniel, 80 F.3d 1261 (9th Cir. 1996) (adequacy of Nev. § 34.800 presumption of prejudice)
- Murphy v. Florida, 421 U.S. 794 (U.S. 1975) (pretrial press coverage does not by itself negate impartiality)
- Godfrey v. Georgia, 446 U.S. 420 (U.S. 1980) (unconstitutionally vague aggravating factor without narrowing construction)
- Valerio v. Crawford, 306 F.3d 742 (9th Cir. 2002) (narrowed construction of depravity factor and its impact on harmless error)
- Young v. United States, 470 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1985) (contextual evaluation of prosecutorial remarks for reversible error)
- Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419 (U.S. 1995) (Strickland prejudice standard and evidentiary impact)
- Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. 717 (U.S. 1961) (pretrial prejudice and juror impartiality considerations)
- Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473 (U.S. 2000) (standards for granting COA on habeas petitions)
- Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. 509 (U.S. 1982) (mixed petitions and exhaustion requirement)