Runnels

ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR WRIT OF HAREAS CORPUS AND DISMISSING PETITION WITH PREJUDICE.

I. Introduction

Petitioner was convicted of second degree robbery while armed with a firearm (Cal.Penal Code § 211, 12022(a)(1)) in Los Angeles County Superior Court on March 16, 1998, and was sentenced to thirty-four years to life in state prison. (Clerk’s Transcript (“CT”) 107, 139-40, 160-62.) The California Court of Appeal upheld his conviction on February 7, 2000, and the California Supreme Court denied review on April 19, 2000. (Lodgment Nos. 4 and 8.) On April 11, 2001, Petitioner filed this writ of habeas corpus for a person in state custody challenging the validity of his conviction on the grounds that the prosecutor improperly used peremptory challenges to dismiss African-American jurors in violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 , 106 S.Ct. 1712 , 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986) and its progeny.

The Magistrate Judge ordered an evi-dentiary hearing on the matter and appointed counsel for Petitioner, but ultimately vacated the evidentiary hearing on a motion from Respondent, presumably on the grounds that no pertinent evidence could be produced at the hearing, though the Magistrate…