Bernard Gordon v. C. Pliler

MEMORANDUM

Bernard Gordon appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging his conviction of robbery and special-circumstance murder involving the use of a firearm. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253 , and we affirm.

Gordon argues that the prosecution withheld impeachment evidence relating to the testimony of jailhouse informant Mark Mikles and that it presented false evidence through Mikles’s testimony. The California Court of Appeal denied relief, finding that even if the information about Mikles’s testimony had been disclosed to the defense, “there is no reasonable probability that the result would have been different.” Mikles was thoroughly impeached with available evidence, he was not a key witness, and any alleged errors with his testimony were immaterial in light of other “overwhelmingly strong” eyewitness identification testimony and inculpatory notes passed between Gordon and his brothers, which jail personnel intercepted.

We consider Gordon’s appeal under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), which requires that we “deny habeas relief unless [Gordon] shows…