Stephen Wong v. Mark Nooth

MEMORANDUM

An Oregon state jury convicted Stephen James Wong of six counts arising out of his sexual abuse of his minor stepdaughter. Wong now appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . He claims his trial and appellate counsel provided ineffective assistance under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 , 104 S.Ct. 2052 , 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253 , and we affirm.

The state court’s rejection of Wong’s claims was not an “unreasonable application” of Strickland. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d). Trial counsel was not ineffective for not objecting to Clare Bruch’s testimony or to the State’s use of the term “sex offender” in its examination of Bruch. Trial counsel could reasonably have decided that Bruch was a proper lay witness, see Or.Rev.Stat. § 40.405, and the state court reasonably found that “sex offender” referred not to Wong’s prior conviction but to the allegations at issue at trial.

Wong’s appellate counsel could decline to raise issues he reasonably thought would not succeed on appeal. Moormann v. Ryan, 628 F.3d 1102, 1109-10 (9th Cir.2010). Appellate counsel could…