Jason Yates v. Larry Small

MEMORANDUM

Petitioner Jason Yates seeks federal ha-beas relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 on the grounds that he was denied a fair trial and effective assistance of counsel. The district court denied the petition, and Yates now appeals. We affirm.

Habeas relief may be granted only if we determine that the last reasoned decision at the state court level was “contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the Untied States” or the decision “was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the state court proceeding.” 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d). To grant relief, we must conclude that the state court decision was “not only erroneous, but objectively unreasonable.” Brown v. Ornoski, 503 F.3d 1006, 1010 (9th Cir.2007) (internal quotations and subsequent citations omitted).

Yates argues that he was denied effective assistance of counsel when the trial court admonished the jury that his attorney was grossly negligent in reading from a redacted portion of a witness’s testimony. The trial court also instructed the jury to find that defense counsel “made such statements with…