Cassett

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

GARY PAUL CASSETT,  No. 03-16573 Petitioner-Appellant, v.  D.C. No.

CV-97-00548-WDB

TERRY L. STEWART, Director,

OPINION

Respondent-Appellee.  Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona William D. Browning, District Judge, Presiding

Submitted April 26, 2005* San Francisco, California

Filed May 3, 2005

Before: A. Wallace Tashima, Sidney R. Thomas, and Richard A. Paez, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Paez

*This panel unanimously finds this case suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). Jeffrey D. Bartolino, Tucson, Arizona, for the petitioner- appellant.

Terry Goddard, Attorney General, Phoenix, Arizona; Kent E. Cattani, Chief Counsel, Capital Litigation Section, Phoenix, Arizona; Monica B. Klapper, Assistant Attorney General, Capital Litigation Section, Phoenix, Arizona, for the respondent-appellee.

OPINION

PAEZ, Circuit Judge:

Petitioner Gary Paul Cassett (“Cassett”) appeals from the district court’s dismissal with prejudice of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under…