Ninth Circuit: Ronald Taylor v. Matthew Cate, Secretary CDCR

Habeas

De novo/ non-AEDPA review, as no state court has considered the specific constitutional claim.

Where the jury is instructed on aiding and abetting, but instead votes to convict on actual murder, but with a special verdict supporting felony murder that is later vacated, a resentencing for aiding and abetting based on subsequent admissions by deft doesn't sufficiently violate 6A to justify Habeas relief, as the resentencing judge is relying on the earlier verdict.

https://d3bsvxk93brmko.cloudfront.net/datastore/opinions/2016/01/21/11-55247.pdf