Luis Lopez v. J. Taylor

MEMORANDUM

Luis A. Lopez, an Oregon state court prisoner, appeals from the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm. As the parties are familiar with the facts, we do not recount them here.

Under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), it was not an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law, as determined by the United States Supreme Court, for the Oregon Court of Appeals to hold that specific performance of Lopez’s prior agreement with the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office was an adequate remedy for the District Attorney’s Office’s breach of that agreement. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d)(1).

According to Supreme Court precedent as established in Santobello v. New York, 404 U.S. 257 , 92 S.Ct. 495 , 30 L.Ed.2d 427 (1971), a state violates an individual’s due process rights when it breaches a plea agreement, and that individual is entitled to a remedy. Id. at 262 , 92 S.Ct. 495 . The state court, however, has discretion to craft an appropriate remedy, as it is “in a better position to decide” the type of reme dy that “the circumstances of [the] case…