Darryl Shirley v. James Yates

OPINION

REINHARDT, Circuit Judge:

I.Introduction

Darryl Shirley was convicted of the first-degree burglary of an unoccupied residence and the second-degree robbery of a sandwich shop (he took $80 from the cash register). In neither instance was anyone harmed, and no weapons were involved in either offense. Shirley was sentenced to two consecutive 25-years-to-life terms in prison for the burglary and robbery, and also four consecutive five-year sentence enhancements based on prior convictions.

On habeas, Shirley properly raised a number of claims. Because we reverse the district court’s denial of…