{"ID":55579,"name":"Waddington v. Sarausad","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/cases\/2008\/07-772","view_count":0,"docket_number":"07-772","additional_docket_numbers":null,"manner_of_jurisdiction":"Writ of \u003Ci\u003Ecertiorari\u003C\/i\u003E","first_party":"Doug Waddington, Superintendent, Washington Corrections Center","second_party":"Cesar Sarausad","timeline":[{"event":"Granted","dates":[1205730000],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/40213"},{"event":"Argued","dates":[1224046800],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/40214"},{"event":"Decided","dates":[1232517600],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/40215"}],"lower_court":{"ID":5,"name":"United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/taxonomy\/term\/5"},"facts_of_the_case":"\u003Cp\u003ECesar Sarausad was arrested in Washington state for his involvement in a drive-by shooting near a school. After he was convicted of second-degree murder and two attempted second-degree murder charges in a jury trial, Sarausad filed a petition for habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The district court granted Sarausad\u0027s motion, holding that the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction and that certain confusing jury instructions related to accomplice liability unconstitutionally relieved the state of its burden of proof.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOn appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court\u0027s ruling on the insufficiency of evidence claim but affirmed on the jury instructions claim. The court stated that the evidence at trial was sufficient to support a conviction under \u003Cem\u003EJackson v. Virginia\u003C\/em\u003E. However, the jury instructions were ambiguous on the question of whether Sarausad could be convicted of murder and attempted murder on a theory of accomplice liability without proof beyond a reasonable doubt that he knew an accomplice intended to commit a murder. According to the Ninth Circuit, there was a reasonable chance the jury misapplied these instructions.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","question":"\u003Cp\u003E1) In reviewing a due process challenge to a jury instruction, must federal courts accept state court findings that instructions were correct?\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E2) Did the U.S. Court of Appeals err in affirming federal habeas corpus relief when it found a \u0022reasonable likelihood\u0022 that the jury misapplied the jury instruction in Mr. Sarausad\u0027s case and thereby relieved the state of its burden to prove every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt?\u003C\/p\u003E\n","conclusion":"\u003Cp\u003ENot necessarily and yes. In a 6-3 decision with Justice Clarence Thomas writing for the majority and joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Justice Antonin G. Scalia, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Justice Stephen G. Breyer, and Justice Samuel A. Alito, the Supreme Court reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The Court held that a federal court may reject state court conclusions with respect to the appropriateness of a state court jury instruction, so long as the instructions were \u0022not only erroneous, but objectively unreasonable.\u0022 Here, the standard was not met and the Ninth Circuit should have accepted the conclusions of the state courts. Further, the Court held that the Ninth Circuit erred in finding Mr. Sarausad\u0027s jury instructions so ambiguous that his constitutional rights were violated and therefore he was not entitled to federal habeas corpus relief.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJustice David H. Souter dissented and was joined by Justice John Paul Stevens and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice Souter criticized the majority opinion for relying on the fact that the jury instructions in Mr. Sarausad\u0027s case incorporated part of a state statute as evidence enough that the instructions were unambiguous. Further, he noted that the jury asked three times for clarification in the instructions. Therefore, Justice Souter argued, it was likely the jury did not grasp what it needed to find in order to convict Mr. Sarausad for accomplice liability.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","advocates":[{"advocate":{"ID":44202,"name":"William B. Collins","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/people\/william_b_collins","view_count":0,"last_name":"Collins","roles":null,"thumbnail":null,"length_of_service":0,"identifier":"william_b_collins"},"advocate_description":"argued the cause for the petitioner","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_advocate\/case_advocate\/19762"},{"advocate":{"ID":30283,"name":"Jeffrey L. 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