Alexis Aguilar v. Matthew Cate

MEMORANDUM

Petitioner Alexis Aguilar appeals the district court’s denial of his habeas petition. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2253 (a), and we affirm.

Aguilar was convicted under California law of first-degree" murder and street terrorism, with gang and firearm enhancements. He is currently serving a 56-years-to-life sentence.

Aguilar petitions this court for relief under habeas corpus on two grounds. He argues that the California Court of Appeal unreasonably applied clearly established federal law, first, by excluding his proffered expert and, second, by concluding that his trial counsel’s representation was objectively reasonable. See 18 U.S.C. § 2254 (d)(1).

First, it is not clearly established that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits a trial court from excluding defense expert testimony on the unreliability of eyewitness identification. See Moses v. Payne, 555 F.3d 742, 757-58 (9th Cir.2009); see also Holmes v. South Carolina, 547 U.S. 319, 326 , 126 S.Ct. 1727 , 164 L.Ed.2d 503 (2006). Therefore, the California Court of Appeal’s determination that Aguilar’s Due Process rights were not violated by the trial court’s exclusion of his…