Rickey Majors v. E. McDaniel

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Nevada state prisoner Rickey Todd Major (“Major”) appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . The district court rejected all of Major’s claims for relief, but certified two issues for appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 2258 (c): that (1) Major’s trial attorney, Matthew Stermitz, rendered ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to prepare adequately for trial by ensuring that he understood the forensic evidence; and (2) that Stermitz was ineffective for failing to voir dire adequately the State’s forensic anthropologist, Dr. Sheilagh Brooks.

Major’s petition is governed by the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d). We therefore cannot grant habeas relief unless the last reasoned Nevada state court decision “‘was contrary to’ federal law then clearly established in the holdings of th[e] [Supreme] Court; or that it ‘involved an unreasonable application of such law; or that it “was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts’ in light of the record before [it].’ ” Harrington v. Richter, — U.S.-, 181 S.Ct. 770 , 785, 178 L.Ed.2d 624 (2011) (citations…