Juan A. Merced v. Joseph L. McGrath Warden, Pelican Bay Prison

Juan Merced, a California state prisoner, appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus. In his petition, Merced makes several assignments of error, only one of which we discuss here: whether the trial court violated Merced’s constitutional rights when it excused a prospective juror based on his belief in exercising the power of jury nullification in appropriate circumstances. We affirm the district court’s denial of the habeas petition with respect to this assignment of error.

I.

Merced’s first trial in February and March 1999 ended with a hung jury. Merced was retried in June 1999 and convicted of attempted premeditated murder of a peace officer involving the personal use of a firearm, under Cal. Pen.Code §§ 187, 664, 12022.5, and of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, under Cal. Pen.Code § 12021. After finding that the defendant had eight prior felony convictions, the trial court sentenced Merced to state prison for a total term of sixty-five years to life.

The California Court of Appeal, in an opinion published only with respect to the claim of error relating to the removal of a juror based upon his belief in the concept of jury…