Smith v. Mitchell, No. 04-55831

Habeas Petition in Assault Matter

In Smith v. Mitchell, No. 04-55831, a prosecution for assault on a child resulting in death, on remand from the Supreme Court for reconsideration, the court of appeals reinstated its order reversing the district court's denial of petitioner's habeas petition, where no rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that petitioner caused the child's death, and the state court's affirmance of the conviction was an unreasonable application of Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979).

As the court wrote:  "This case is before us on remand from the Supreme Court for the second time. We reiterate the facts and course of litigation very briefly; a fuller exposition may be found in our earlier opinions and orders that we cite here."

Related Resources

• Read the Ninth Circuit's Decision in Smith v. Mitchell, No. 04-55831