Marc San Nicolas v. Debra Dexter

MEMORANDUM

Marc A. San Nicolas (“San Nicolas”) appeals the dismissal of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition, challenging his California “natural and probable consequences” murder conviction, having been found to have aided and abetted a gang member in challenging a rival gang to a fight, which resulted in the murder of a member of the rival gang. He now argues that the evidence presented at trial was constitutionally insufficient to convict him, and that prosecutorial misconduct so infected his trial as to deprive him of his constitutional rights.

Reviewing the district court’s decision to grant or deny the habeas petition de novo, Ramirez v. Castro, 365 F.3d 755, 762 (9th Cir.2004), and reviewing the last-reasoned state court’s adjudication of the habeas claim for whether it was contrary to or an unreasonable application of clear Supreme Court precedent, 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d)(1), we affirm.

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

A court reviewing the sufficiency of evidence supporting a criminal conviction may grant federal habeas relief only if no rational trier of fact could have found the elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt, viewing the evidence in the light most…