9th Cir.;
15-99002

The court of appeals granted in part a petition for writ of habeas corpus. The court held that the prosecutor's withholding of material evidence and defense counsel's constitutionally deficient pretrial investigation warranted granting habeas relief to a death row inmate.

A man robbed a jewelry store, fatally shooting the owner. The first officer on the scene, Gregory Branon, observed bloody shoeprints on the floor. He also spoke with the store owner, who was still alive. The owner described his assailant as a black adult male whose hair was “shoulder length,” “loosely curled,” and “wet.” Branon, who was African American, interpreted those words to mean a Jheri Curl, and used that term in his report. Based on a tip from Randy and Vanessa Wolfe, Paul Browning was arrested within hours. His clothing did not match the description provided by the decedent, his shoes did not match the bloody footprints, and his hair was in an Afro, and not a Jheri Curl. At trial, the prosecutor offered testimony that the bloody footprints could have been left by the technicians called to the scene, and that the decedent, who was Caucasian, might have misunderstood the meaning of the term Jheri Curl, and actually meant to say “Afro.” The prosecutor did not introduce, or disclose to the prosecution, Branon's report, which included both his discovery of the footprints upon arriving at the crime scene and the actual words used by the decedent in describing his assailant's hairstyle. The Wolfes testified at trial that Browning told them he had robbed the store. Browning was convicted of murder, robbery, burglary, and escape. He was sentenced to death. The judgment was upheld on appeal.