Schultz

Kenneth Harrell Schultz appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . The district court certified a single issue for our review under § 2253(c)(3): whether the California trial court’s use of California Jury Instruction, Criminal (“CALJIC”) No. 2.50.01 (8th ed.2002) violated Schultz’s constitutional right to due process by allowing the jury to find him guilty of charged offenses based only on facts found by a preponderance of the evidence.

We have jurisdiction under § 2253(a) and review the district court’s denial of the petition de novo. Brown v. Horell, 644 F.3d 969, 978 (9th Cir.2011). Under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, we may grant a writ of habeas corpus only if the state court’s judgment was “contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States,” or was “based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence in the State court proceeding.” 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d). Because the decision of the California Court of Appeal to reject Schultz’s constitutional challenge to…