Alvin Rankin, Jr. v. Jack Palmer

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FILED

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

SEP 25 2015

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK

U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

ALVIN RANKIN, Jr., No. 14-15634

Petitioner - Appellant, D.C. No. 3:09-cv-00145-LRH-

VPC

v.

JACK PALMER and NEVADA MEMORANDUM*

ATTORNEY GENERAL,

Respondents - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nevada Larry R. Hicks, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted August 11, 2015 San Francisco, California

Before: REINHARDT, TASHIMA, and CALLAHAN, Circuit Judges.

Nevada state prisoner Alvin Rankin, Jr. appeals the district court’s denial of

his writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2253 and

review the denial of his writ de novo. Barker v. Fleming, 423 F.3d 1085, 1091 (9th

Cir. 2005). We affirm.

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3. Just after midnight on July 3, 2004, Victor Sangines, his brother Mario, and

friend Jesus Lara were robbed at gunpoint by two men in a dimly lit parking lot

behind the Sangines’ apartment. One of…

MEMORANDUM *

Nevada state prisoner Alvin Rankin, Jr. appeals the district court’s denial of his writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2253 and review the denial of his writ de novo. Barker v. Fleming, 423 F.3d 1085, 1091 (9th Cir.2005). We affirm.

Just after midnight on July 3, 2004, Victor Sangines, his brother Mario, and friend Jesus Lara were robbed at gunpoint by two men in a dimly lit parking lot behind the Sangines’ apartment. One of the robbers shot Lara in the arm before they fled. Victor called 911 and he continued to deal with the authorities as Mario and Lara were receiving medical attention. A few minutes later, a police officer stopped Rankin half a mile away because he appeared to the officer to resemble Victor’s description of one of the robbers. Rankin looked like he had been running: he was sweaty, dirty, and scraped. After rejecting several other suspects, Victor identified Rankin as the robber he had observed.

Rankin was convicted of armed robbery and brings two challenges. First, he argues that he was prejudiced by the trial court’s limits on his cross-examination of a police witness. Second, he contends that his lawyers were…

concurring:

I concur in the majority’s result.