Richard Stewart v. Ralph Diaz

MEMORANDUM

Richard Stewart pled guilty to petty theft for stealing two watches, each worth $29.99. Because of his extensive criminal history, a California court sentenced him to a prison term of twenty-five-years-to-life. Applying Ewing v. California, 538 U.S. 11 , 123 S.Ct. 1179 , 155 L.Ed.2d 108 (2003), the California Court of Appeal ruled that Stewart’s punishment was not “grossly disproportionate” under the Eighth Amendment because his criminal history included repeated, serious offenses.

The district court denied Stewart’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus under the deferential standard established by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d). On appeal, Stewart argues that the California Court of Appeal unreasonably applied “clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States.” Id.

Stewart’s criminal history includes very serious violent crimes: forcible oral copulation in concert and assault with a deadly weapon. That fact easily distinguishes this case from cases in which the defendant had committed only nonviolent crimes. Cf. Solem v. Helm, 463 U.S. 277, 280, 303 , 103 S.Ct. 3001 ,…