Joseph Contreras v. Larry Kincheloe, Superintendent, Spring Creek Correctional Center

94 F.3d 650 NOTICE: Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 provides that dispositions other than opinions or orders designated for publication are not precedential and should not be cited except when relevant under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. Joseph CONTRERAS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Larry KINCHELOE, Superintendent, Spring Creek Correctional Center, Respondent-Appellee. No. 95-35758. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Submitted Aug. 8, 1996. * Decided Aug. 12, 1996. Before: GOODWIN, BRUNETTI and KOZINSKI, Circuit Judges. 1 MEMORANDUM ** 2 Petitioner filed a petition for habeas corpus in the district court for Alaska, alleging that his Sixth Amendment right to confrontation had been violated by the trial testimony of a witness who had previously undergone hypnosis. While the state trial court allowed testimony only regarding statements made prior to the hypnosis, Petitioner argues that the history of hypnosis still left him powerless to cross-examine the witness in a competent manner. 3 This court has held that the fact of hypnosis goes to the weight of the evidence, not its admissibility--even where the information obtained through…