Ethan Windom v. Randy Blades

FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
JUN 22 2016
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
ETHAN WINDOM, No. 14-35746
Petitioner - Appellant, D.C. No. 1:12-cv-00468-EJL
v.
MEMORANDUM*
RANDY BLADES, Warden,
Respondent - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Idaho
Edward J. Lodge, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted June 8, 2016
Seattle, Washington
Before: PAEZ, BYBEE, and CHRISTEN, Circuit Judges.
Ethan Windom appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of
habeas corpus, 28 U.S.C. § 2254. In his petition, Windom asserted that the Idaho
trial court’s imposition of a sentence of life without parole violated the Eighth
Amendment. After the district court denied Windom’s petition, the Supreme Court
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
issued its decision in Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S. Ct. 718, 736 (2016), which
held that the Court’s decision in Miller v. Alabama, 132 S. Ct. 2455 (2012),
applied retroactively. Because the district court did not have the benefit of the
Court’s opinion in Montgomery when it ruled on Windom’s petition, we vacate the
district court’s judgment and remand for further consideration in light of
Montgomery.
Upon remand, Windom may file a motion with the district court to stay his
federal habeas petition pending the Idaho Supreme Court’s decision on his state
habeas petition.
VACATED and REMANDED.
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