Ricardo MacHuca v. Mike McDonald

MEMORANDUM

Ricardo Marquez Machuca appeals from the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 28 U.S.C. § 2253 . We affirm.

A California jury convicted Machuca of first-degree murder and he was sentenced to twenty-six years to life in prison. On direct appeal, Machuca argued that his trial counsel had been constitutionally ineffective when he failed to object to the admission of statements made by Machuca during a videotaped interview after Ma-chuca allegedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right to silence. The California Court of Appeal affirmed Machuca’s conviction, concluding that Machuca’s counsel was not ineffective because Machuca had not unambiguously invoked his rights. The California Supreme Court denied review, and Machuca filed a timely federal habeas petition.

The district court held that the California Court of Appeal’s decision that Ma-chuca’s invocation was ambiguous was an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d)(1). But the district court concluded that even if Machuca had satisfied the deficient performance prong of…