Robert Mata v. George Sumner

ELY, Circuit Judge:

Robert Mata (“appellant”) appeals from the District Court’s denial of his Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus. The Petition followed the appellant’s conviction of murder in a California state court and his exhaustion of all available state court remedies.

We reverse the District Court’s Order upon the basis of our conclusion that state authorities violated rights given to the appellant by the federal Constitution. First, the pre-trial photographic identification procedure employed by state police was so impermissibly suggestive as to give rise to a very substantial likelihood…