Eugene Cofsky v. Charles Ryan

MEMORANDUM

Arizona state prisoner Eugene J. Cofsky appeals the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition challenging his conviction for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. We affirm.

The Arizona state courts’ finding — that sufficient evidence supported Cofsky’s conviction for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder — was not contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law. Neither the postcon-viction review court nor the Arizona Court of Appeals on direct review provided reasoning for their respective conclusions that sufficient evidence was presented to convict Cofsky of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Where a state court rules on the issue at hand, but does not supply reasoning for its decision, we “perform an independent review of the record to ascertain whether the state court decision was objectively unreasonable.” Himes v. Thompson, 336 F.3d 848, 853 (9th Cir.2003) (internal quotation marks omitted). “Independent review of the record is not de novo review of the constitutional issue, but rather, the only method by which we can determine whether a silent state court decision is objectively…