Floyd v. Filson, No. 14-99012 (10-11-19)(Friedland w/Berzon & Owens). AEDPA deference to the Nevada Supreme Court led to the affirmance of this capital habeas denial. Time after time, the 9^th repeated the litany that under AEDPA deference, the state court’s rulings that no constitutional error occurred was not contrary to the Supreme Court case law or an unreasonable application of it. The 9^th did find that the prosecutor’s statements about “sending a message” and that the ultimate decision of death lay with others – did not affect the fundamental fairness of the trial.

Brad Levenson and David Anthony, AFPDs in the office of the Nevada FPD (Las Vegas), fought the good fight.

The decision is here:

http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2019/10/11/14-99012.pdf