Cite as: 523 U. S. 538 (1998)
Opinion of the Court
filed a federal habeas petition in January 1990. The District Court held Thompson's petition in abeyance while Thompson pursued unexhausted claims in state court. In January 1991, the California Supreme Court denied Thompson's second state habeas petition. In February 1993, the California Supreme Court denied Thompson's third state habeas petition.
In November 1993, the United States District Court for the Central District of California held an evidentiary hearing on the claims raised in Thompson's federal habeas petition. In an order dated March 28, 1995, the District Court granted habeas relief as to the rape conviction and rape special circumstance and denied relief as to the murder conviction. In the District Court's view, Thompson's trial attorney rendered ineffective assistance of counsel as to the rape charge. The District Court cited two failings by the attorney. First, the court held, counsel failed to contest certain of the conclusions offered by the State's forensic expert at trial. Second, the court determined, counsel should have impeached the credibility of two jailhouse informants to a greater extent than he did. In the District Court's view, these failings prejudiced Thompson under the rule of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U. S. 668 (1984). Having granted relief as to the rape special circumstance, the District Court ruled Thompson's death sentence was invalid. As to the murder conviction, the District Court rejected Thompson's claim he had been prejudiced by what Thompson alleged were inconsistencies between the prosecution's theories at his trial and the later trial of David Leitch. Having read the transcripts of both trials, the court found "the trials differed mainly in emphasis." App. 71.
The timing of later federal proceedings is critical to the issues we now resolve. On June 19, 1996, a unanimous three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals reversed the District Court's grant of habeas relief as to the rape conviction and rape special circumstance, affirmed the denial of habeas
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