Pallares

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 REBECCA LEE MENDOZA, No. 2:20-cv-01638 KJM AC Petitioner, v. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS MICHAEL PALLARES, Warden, Respondent. 16 Petitioner is a California state prisoner proceeding through counsel with an application for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The petition, ECF No. 1, challenges petitioner’s 2014 conviction for second degree murder. Respondent has answered, ECF No. 11, and petitioner has filed a traverse, ECF No. 14. BACKGROUND I. Proceedings in the Trial Court A. Preliminary Proceedings Petitioner was charged in San Joaquin County with murder and related charges arising from the 2011 death of her husband, whom she admitted shooting. The case went to trial in 2014. The prosecutor moved in limine for exclusion of defense expert testimony regarding battered women’s syndrome. No expert witnesses or expert reports had been disclosed by the…