Marcus

MEMORANDUM **

Howard Marcus, a California state prisoner, appeals the denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition challenging his eight-year sentence following a nolo contendere plea to inflicting corporal injury on his spouse, and admissions of inflicting great bodily injury and using a deadly or dangerous weapon in the commission of the offense. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253 . We review de novo, Schell v. Witek, 218 F.3d 1017, 1022 (9th Cir.2000) (en banc), and we affirm.

Marcus first contends that he was denied the right to counsel at his plea withdrawal hearing because the trial court failed to appoint substitute counsel based on his allegations that counsel failed to properly investigate his case, failed to interview him, and was friends with the prosecutor. A review of the record shows that Marcus was represented by retained counsel at the time of the hearing and neither requested new counsel nor attempted to discharge retained counsel. Moreover, Marcus points to no Supreme Court authority supporting the proposition that informing the trial court that he is dissatisfied with his retained counsel’s performance alone automatically requires the trial court…