Smith v. Mitchell

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

SHIRLEY REE SMITH,  No. 04-55831 Petitioner-Appellant, v.  D.C. No.

CV-01-04484-ABC

GWENDOLYN MITCHELL, Warden,

OPINION

Respondent-Appellee.  Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Audrey B. Collins, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted February 8, 2005—Pasadena, California

Filed February 9, 2006

Before: Harry Pregerson and William C. Canby, Jr., Circuit Judges, and Edward C. Reed, Jr.,* District Judge.

Opinion by Judge Canby

*The Honorable Edward C. Reed, Jr., Senior United States District Judge for the District of Nevada, sitting by designation. COUNSEL

Michael J. Brennan, Manhattan Beach, California, for the petitioner-appellant.

Richard T. Breen, Deputy Attorney General, Los Angeles, California, for the respondent-appellee.

OPINION

CANBY, Circuit Judge:

Shirley Ree Smith appeals the district court’s denial of her habeas corpus petition. The State of California convicted Smith of assault on a child resulting in death. The state courts affirmed her conviction.…