James Ray Moore v. Derrick Ollison

MEMORANDUM

James Ray Moore (“Moore”) was convicted of first degree residential burglary in California state court and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. The district court denied Moore’s federal habeas petition, but granted a certifícate of appeala-bility on the following issues: (1) whether the trial eourt erred by not requiring the prosecutor to justify its peremptory strike of the only African-American on the jury panel; (2) whether the prosecutor’s alleged misconduct during his closing statement constitutes reversible error; (3) whether Moore received ineffective assistance of counsel because his trial counsel failed to investigate; and (4) whether Moore’s sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 , 2253. We affirm.

I.Standard of Review

The district court’s denial of Moore’s habeas petition is reviewed de novo. See Luna v. Cambra, 306 F.3d 954, 959 (9th Cir.2002), amended by 311 F.3d 928 (9th Cir.2002). Because Moore’s petition is subject to the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), federal habeas relief is only available if the state court’s decision was contrary to, or involved an…