James Edwards v. Gary Swarthout

MEMORANDUM

California state prisoners James Edwards and David Edwards appeal the district court’s denial of their 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petitions. The court has been informed that James Edwards died on March 21, 2013. His appeal is dismissed as moot. See Griffey v. Lindsey, 349 F.3d 1157 (9th Cir.2003). With respect to David Edwards’ petition, we have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 2253, and we affirm.

1. Appellant’s briefing failed to address or apply the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d), which sets forth the applicable, highly deferential substantive standard for federal habeas review of state cases. The opening brief did not mention or discuss the last reasoned state court decision, nor did appellant include this decision in the excerpts of record. Appellant neither argued nor demonstrated why the state court proceeding “resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States,” 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d)(1), or why the state court proceeding “resulted in a decision that was based on an unreasonable…