Hector Aguirre v. Jeff MacOmber

MEMORANDUM *

Petitioner Hector Miguel Aguirre appeals the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas corpus petition. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 2253.

Both the California Superior Court and the state Court of Appeal concluded that the phrase “natural life imprisonment” in *687 the extradition agreement prohibited the state from imposing on Aguirre a sentence of life without the possibility of parole (“LWOP”), but- not the 84-years-to-life sentence that Aguirre received. Aguirre does not identify Supreme Court precedent that interprets the phrase “natural life imprisonment,” and our research has revealed none. And there is no clearly established federal law to support Aguirre’s argument that his sentence is functionally equivalent to LWOP. Without applicable Supreme Court authority, the California courts’ decisions are not “contrary to, or ... an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law,” 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d)(1), 1 and we must uphold them under the deferential standard of the AEDPA. See Glebe v. Frost, — U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 429, 431 , 190 L.Ed.2d 317 (2014) (discussing standard of review); Wright v. Van Patten, 552 U.S.…

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FILED

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT JUN 04 2015

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK

U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

HECTOR MIGUEL AGUIRRE, No. 13-56165

Petitioner - Appellant, D.C. No. 5:12-cv-00859-JVS-RNB

v.

MEMORANDUM*

JEFF MACOMBER,

Respondent - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California James V. Selna, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted May 4, 2015 Pasadena, California

Before: PREGERSON, TALLMAN, and NGUYEN, Circuit Judges.

Petitioner Hector Miguel Aguirre appeals the district court’s denial of his

U.S.C. § 2254 habeas corpus petition. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

§§ 1291 and 2253.

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3. Both the California Superior Court and the state Court of Appeal concluded

that the phrase “natural life imprisonment” in the extradition agreement prohibited

the state from imposing on Aguirre a sentence of life without the possibility of

parole (“LWOP”), but not the…

dissenting:

Before Hector Aguirre was extradited from Mexico to the United States our government assured the Mexican government that “neither a sentence of death nor of natural life imprisonment [would] be sought or imposed in [Aguirre’s] case.” In 2008, when Aguirre was 26 years old, a California state court sentenced him to 84-years-to-life. Aguirre will not be eligible for parole until 2088, around the time of his 106th birthday. 1 It is a near certainty that he will be imprisoned for the remainder of his natural life.

According to Black’s Law Dictionary, “[n]atural life” means “[a] person’s physical life span.” Black’s Law Dictionary (10th ed.2014). “Life imprisonment” means “[c]onfinement of a person in prison for the remaining years of his or her natural life.” Id. Therefore, natural life imprisonment is the confinement of a person in prison for the remaining years of his or her physical life span.

The dictionary definition of “natural life imprisonment” demonstrates that the California courts made an unreasonable legal determination when they found that a sentence of 84-years-to-life did not constitute a sentence of natural life imprisonment. Because Aguirre’s sentence…