Mayberry
Mayberry v. Roe
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
California state prisoner Billy Mayberry appeals pro se the district court’s order denying his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Mayberry challenges his 1995 jury conviction for second degree murder, with an enhancement for use of a firearm, for which he was sentenced to a term of 20 years to life imprisonment. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2253 . We review de novo the district court’s dismissal of a petition for writ of habeas corpus, see Schell v. Witek, 218 F.3d 1017, 1022 (9th Cir.2000) (en banc), and we affirm.
Mayberry argues that the California trial court violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel by denying his two pretrial motions to substitute counsel. We disagree.
Both of Mayberry’s motions to substitute counsel were made less than two weeks before the scheduled start of trial. Granting either motion would have required a continuance of at least another month. However, as both the district court and California Court of Appeal noted, numerous continuances had already been granted in Mayberry’s case, delaying the start of his trial by almost a year. Neither appointed counsel, nor proposed substitute retained counsel,…