544
Opinion of the Court
shani the night of the murder. He also said Fleischli had been stabbed in the head, though this information had not yet been made public. He further claimed not to have had sex with Fleischli, but later asserted they had engaged in consensual sex.
We next recount the lengthy procedural history of the case.
B
On November 4, 1983, an Orange County Superior Court jury convicted Thompson of the first-degree murder and forcible rape of Fleischli. The jury made a special finding that "the homicide of Ginger Lorraine Fleischli was an intentional killing personally committed by the defendant Thomas Martin Thompson." 45 Cal. 3d 86, 117, n. 23, 753 P. 2d 37, 56, n. 23 (1988). The jury further found the special circumstance of murder during the commission of rape, making Thompson eligible for the death penalty. After penalty phase proceedings the jury was unanimous in recommending a capital sentence, which the trial judge imposed. In a later trial, a different jury found David Leitch guilty of second-degree murder for his role in Fleischli's slaying.
On April 28, 1988, the California Supreme Court unanimously affirmed Thompson's rape and murder convictions and the jury's finding of the rape special circumstance. The court also affirmed Thompson's death sentence, with two of seven justices dissenting. The dissenters concurred in the affirmance of the murder and rape convictions and the rape special circumstance, but asserted the jury's sentencing recommendation had been influenced in an improper manner by evidence that Thompson had solicited the murder of David Leitch. Id., at 144-145, 753 P. 2d, at 74-75. Thompson petitioned for rehearing, which the court denied in June 1988. Thompson also filed a petition for certiorari with this Court, which we denied. 488 U. S. 960 (1988).
Thompson filed his first state habeas petition, which the California Supreme Court denied in March 1989. Thompson
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