Roman Arredondo v. Rob Persson

MEMORANDUM

Oregon state prisoner Roman Arredon-do was convicted by a jury of rape, sexual abuse, contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor, and furnishing alcohol to a minor. At the close of trial, the prosecutor commented on Arredondo’s flippant demeanor during the victim’s testimony, and defense counsel did not object. Arre-dondo filed a state habeas petition, arguing ineffective assistance of counsel based in part on his trial counsel’s failure to object to the prosecution’s remarks. The Oregon post-conviction court denied Arredondo’s petition.

Arredondo then filed a pro se federal habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . In his federal habeas petition, Arredondo claimed ineffective assistance of counsel based on a myriad of alleged deficiencies. The district court denied habeas relief, but issued a Certificate of Appealability as to the ineffective assistance claim based on trial counsel’s failure to object to the closing remarks. Arredondo now appeals the district court’s denial of his habeas petition. We affirm.

Under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), we may grant relief only when a state court’s adjudication of a claim “resulted…