9th Cir.;
13-17326

The court of appeals vacated and remanded in part a district court judgment and denied an application for leave to file a second or successive habeas petition. The court held that the district court erred in its analysis of whether the Nevada Supreme Court's rejection of a death row inmate's claim of intellectual disability was entitled to deference.

In 1979, Robert Ybarra kidnapped, beat, and sexually assaulted a sixteen-year-old girl. He then doused her in gasoline, set her on fire, and left her to die a slow and agonizing death. A jury rejected his insanity defense and found him guilty of murder. He was sentenced to death. The Nevada Supreme Court rejected Ybarra's claim of intellectual disability on the merits.