Stephen Shoemaker v. Robert Taylor

ORDER

The Opinion filed on August 6, 2013 is amended as follows:

No further petitions for rehearing or rehearing en banc will be entertained.

OPINION

A California jury convicted Stephen Shoemaker of eight misdemeanor counts of possession of child pornography in violation of California Penal Code § 311.11(a) and one misdemeanor count of duplicating child pornography in violation of California Penal Code § 311.3(a). Shoemaker was sentenced to 90 days in custody, 36 months probation, a $17,000 fine, and a one-year sexual compulsiveness program. He was also required to register as a sex offender for life. Shoemaker exhausted his state remedies through the filing of a direct appeal and a petition for writ of habeas corpus. Both the California Court of Appeal and the California Supreme Court issued summary denials of Shoemaker’s state habeas petitions. Shoemaker then filed his federal habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 , which the district court denied.

On appeal from the district court’s denial, Shoemaker argues that: (1) because six of the images at issue were not lewd, the jury erred in finding those six images to be child pornography; (2) because the remaining two images…