Jeffrey Alsborg v. Gary Swarthout

MEMORANDUM

Petitioner Jeffrey Alsborg was tried in 2001 for the murder of his much older lover, Alexander Campbell, in 1998. The coroner determined that Campbell died from “asphyxia associated with neck trauma.” Alsborg contended that Campbell’s death was natural or accidental during sex. The jurors found Alsborg not guilty of first-degree murder, but guilty of second-degree murder. Alsborg was sentenced to fifteen years to life in prison. The state courts denied Alsborg’s direct appeals and his petition for habeas corpus relief. The United States District Court for the Central District of California denied both Alsborg’s habeas petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 and a certificate of appeala-bility. We granted a certificate of appeala-bility on the three issues that we consider, below. We affirm.

1. Alsborg contends that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction. We conclude that the California Court of Appeal did not unreasonably apply Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 , 99 S.Ct. 2781 , 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), in rejecting that claim. A “rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime [of second-degree murder] beyond a reasonable…