Dykes v. Ayers
- Susan Illston
- 3:11-cv-04454
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
Counsel of record per CourtListener. Firm names are approximate.
In Dykes v. Jones, Judge Illston dismissed Dykes’s federal petition after the state court recalled and replaced his death sentence.
Ernest Edward Dykes’s federal petition was dismissed, and the case was closed; the order also affected Gena Jones as the named respondent.
What happened
Dykes v. Jones involved Ernest Edward Dykes’s federal petition challenging his death sentence. The federal court had referred the case for settlement proceedings.
During settlement, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office asked a state court to recall Dykes’s sentence and seek resentencing based on previously undisclosed evidence concerning alleged jury-selection violations. The state court recalled the death sentence and resentenced Dykes on August 13, 2024, under the settlement agreement.
Dykes then asked to voluntarily dismiss his federal petition. Judge Susan Illston dismissed the petition and ordered the Clerk to close the case because the proceeding had ended entirely.
The detailed version
- Dykes v. Ayers · No. 3:11-cv-04454
- Susan Illston
- July 8, 2025
Background
Ernest Edward Dykes filed a federal petition challenging his death sentence. On November 6, 2023, the court referred the case to Judge Vince Chhabria for settlement proceedings.
Under an agreement between Dykes and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office asked the Alameda County Superior Court to recall Dykes’s sentence and seek resentencing in the interest of justice. The request was based on previously undisclosed evidence that, according to the opinion, indicated violations of Dykes’s state and constitutional rights under People v. Wheeler and Batson v. Kentucky.
On August 13, 2024, the state court recalled Dykes’s death sentence and resentenced him according to the settlement agreement.
Motion and ruling
Dykes moved voluntarily to dismiss his federal petition under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(2), which governs certain voluntary dismissals approved by the court. Judge Susan Illston ordered that the petition be dismissed. She also directed the Clerk to close the case because the order terminated the proceeding in its entirety.
The order does not decide the underlying claims in the federal petition. It dismisses the petition after the state court recalled and replaced Dykes’s death sentence. The opinion does not specify whether the dismissal was with or without prejudice.
Disposition
The petition was dismissed, and the case was closed.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.