Son Thanh Bui v. Anthony Hedgpeth

MEMORANDUM

Habeas petitioners Son Thanh Bui and Bunthoeun Roeung (“Petitioners”) — co-defendants in a state court trial of seven gang members for four gang-related shooting incidents that left six dead and eight wounded — seek to overturn their multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 , 2253, and we affirm the denial of both petitions.

First, the California Court of Appeal’s rejection of Petitioners’ jury impartiality claim was not objectively unreasonable where Juror No. ll’s bias against the death penalty did not taint the jury during the guilt phase, and she was properly removed before deliberations for the penalty phase began. Cf. McDonough Power Equip., Inc. v. Greenwood, 464 U.S. 548, 553-56 , 104 S.Ct. 845 , 78 L.Ed.2d 663 (1984) (stating the standard for jury impartiality claims in a civil case without dual phases). Thus, Petitioners were not denied a fair trial based on controlling Supreme Court precedent. See Bumper v. North Carolina, 391 U.S. 543, 545 , 88 S.Ct. 1788 , 20 L.Ed.2d 797 (1968); Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 517-18 , 88 S.Ct. 1770 , 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968) (holding that a juror’s views…