Bockting

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

MARVIN HOWARD BOCKTING,  No. 02-15866 Petitioner-Appellant, v.  D.C. No.

CV-98-00764-ECR

ROBERT BAYER,

OPINION

Respondent-Appellee.  Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nevada Edward C. Reed, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted June 13, 2007—San Francisco, California

Filed September 27, 2007

Before: J. Clifford Wallace, John T. Noonan, and M. Margaret McKeown, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Wallace; Dissent by Judge Noonan

13303 13306 BOCKTING v. BAYER

COUNSEL

Franny A. Forsman, Federal Public Defender, Las Vegas, Nevada, for petitioner Marvin Howard Bockting.

Victor-Hugo Schulze, II and Rene L. Hulse, Nevada State Attorney General’s Office, for respondent Robert Bayer.

OPINION

WALLACE, Senior Circuit Judge:

Bockting appeals from the district court’s order denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Bockting challenges his state convictions on charges associated with the alleged sex- ual abuse of his then-six-year-old step daughter. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2253(a). Bockting…