Thomas Lester Stark v. Rod Hickman, Warden

Thomas Stark, a California state prisoner, appeals the district court’s dismissal of his pro se 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas corpus petition. Stark contends that his federal right to due process was violated at his California state trial for murder when the trial court charged the jury during the guilt phase that he was to be presumed “conclusively sane” by the jury.

I. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The district court’s decision to dismiss a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 is reviewed de novo. Patterson v. Gomez, 223 F.3d 959, 962 (9th Cir.2000). The petition at issue here was filed after 1996; as such, it is governed by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA). See 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d); Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 402 , 120 S.Ct. 1495 , 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000) (O’Connor, J., concurring). Under AEDPA, a federal court can reverse a state court decision denying relief only if that decision was “contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of,” clearly established Supreme Court precedent. 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d)(1).

A state court’s decision is contrary to clearly established Supreme Court precedent if the state court arrives at a…