Nhat Mai v. Joe McGrath

MEMORANDUM

In 2003 Nhat D. Mai, on the advice of counsel, entered into a negotiated plea to one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder, and one count of assault with a deadly weapon in consideration of a stipulated sentence of forty years to life imprisonment. Mai was convicted and received the agreed upon sentence. Thereafter Mai sought to set aside his plea based upon allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel in the state courts and in district court. The state courts and the district court rejected Mai’s claims.

Because the state courts did not provide a reasoned decision denying Mai’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim, the district court conducted an independent review of the record and concluded that the state court’s denial of Mai’s habeas petition was not an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law. See Himes v. Thompson, 386 F.3d 848, 852-53 (9th Cir.2003); 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d). Having reviewed the decision of the district court de novo and the district court’s findings of fact for clear error, Brown v. Ornoski, 503 F.3d 1006, 1010 (9th Cir.2007), we affirm.

To succeed on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, Mai must…