E'drick Brown v. Robert Horel

MEMORANDUM

E’Drick Brown appeals from a judgment of the district court denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . This court granted a certificate of appealability on three issues: (1) Were Brown’s federal due-process rights violated when the trial court granted the state’s motion to consolidate and denied Brown’s severance motion with regard to the consolidation of the two incidents? (2) Did the prosecutor commit prejudicial misconduct, in violation of due process? (3) Did cumulative error render Brown’s trial fundamentally unfair? We affirm.

I.

Regardless of whether the state court adjudicated Brown’s federal due-process claim on the merits, Brown is not entitled to relief on this claim. The evidence relating to each set of crimes was distinct and easy to keep separate, so there was no danger that the jury failed to compartmentalize the evidence. See Bean v. Calderon, 163 F.3d 1073, 1085 (9th Cir.1998) (“prejudice generally does not arise from joinder when the evidence of each crime is simple and distinct”). Although the jury found both Brown and his codefendant guilty of all charges, that does not, by itself, imply or suggest that the jury…