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Paradis v. Arave

Paradis v. Arave

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

February 25, 1997, Argued, Submitted, Phoenix, Arizona ; November 20, 1997, Filed

No. 96-35670

Opinion

 [*388]  OPINION

TASHIMA, Circuit Judge:

I. OVERVIEW

Donald M. Paradis was convicted of the murder of Kimberly Palmer in Idaho and sentenced to death. In November 1995, before his second petition for post-conviction relief in the Idaho state courts had been decided, Paradis filed his second petition for habeas corpus relief in federal district court. In January 1996, Paradis discovered new evidence. His motion to augment the record and for leave to file a supplemental brief [**2]  before the Idaho Supreme Court was denied. In May 1996, the Governor of Idaho commuted Paradis' sentence of death to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The federal district court dismissed Paradis' amended second petition (the "second petition"). We now affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The underlying facts are portrayed in detail in State v. Paradis, 106 Idaho 117, 676 P.2d 31 (Idaho 1983), cert. denied, 468 U.S. 1220, 82 L. Ed. 2d 888, 104 S. Ct. 3592 (1984) ("Paradis I"), and Paradis v. Arave, 667 F. Supp. 1361 (D. Idaho 1987) ("Paradis II"), aff'd in part and rev'd in part, 954 F.2d 1483 (9th Cir. 1992) ("Paradis III"), vacated and remanded, 507 U.S. 1026, 113 S. Ct. 1837, 123 L. Ed. 2d 463 (1993), aff'd on remand, 20 F.3d 950 (9th Cir. 1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1117, 115 S. Ct. 915, 130 L. Ed. 2d 796 (1995).

On June 19, 1980, Kimberly Palmer ("Palmer") and Scott Currier ("Currier") departed from Palmer's Spokane, Washington, residence for a camping trip to Idaho in a blue and white Volkswagen van. At around 12:45 a.m. on June 21, Currier and Palmer checked into the Paul Bunyan Motel in Spokane, around the corner from Paradis' residence, but checked out shortly afterwards.

About 6:30 a.m., on [**3]  June 21, Ruth Jones witnessed a blue and white Volkswagen van with two or three men ascending Mellick Road, a steep mountain road in Post Falls, Idaho. Thirty minutes later, she saw three men coming from the area of Mellick Road by foot. During the next 30 minutes, the three men were repeatedly observed in Post Falls. They were identified as Paradis, Thomas Gibson and Laurence Evans.

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130 F.3d 385 *; 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 32782 **; 97 Cal. Daily Op. Service 8756; 97 Daily Journal DAR 14209

DONALD M. PARADIS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. A.J. ARAVE, Warden, Idaho State Penitentiary, Respondent-Appellee.

Prior History:  [**1]  Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Idaho. D.C. No. CV 95-00446-S-EJL. Edward J. Lodge, District Judge, Presiding.

Disposition: AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, and REMANDED.

CORE TERMS

district court, blood, medical evidence, habeas petition, lungs, creek, conflicting interest, inflicted, tear, evidentiary hearing, reasonable juror, exculpatory, autopsy, murder, wound, new evidence, immersed, appears, killed, disadvantage, exhaustion, underpants, ear, circumstantial evidence, decomposition, aspiration, impeaching, documents, witnesses, labial

Civil Procedure, Appeals, Standards of Review, Abuse of Discretion, Criminal Law & Procedure, Procedural Defenses, Successive Petitions, Review of Denials, Clearly Erroneous Review, Abuse of Discretion, General Overview, Habeas Corpus, Review, Presumption of Correctness, Appellate Jurisdiction, Procedure, Court Rules, Exhaustion of Remedies, Prerequisites, Governments, Courts, Judicial Comity, Jurisdiction, Cognizable Issues, Exceptions to Default, Actual Innocence & Miscarriage of Justice, Miscarriage of Justice, Defendant's Rights, Right to Counsel, Effective Assistance of Counsel, Counsel, Legal Ethics, Client Relations, Conflicts of Interest, Joint Representation, Local Governments, Police Power, Prosecutorial Conduct, Discovery & Inspection, Brady Materials, Brady Claims, Evidence, Relevance, Preservation of Relevant Evidence, Exclusion & Preservation by Prosecutors, Preliminary Proceedings, Pretrial Motions & Procedures, Suppression of Evidence, Proof of Innocence