Grayson

MEMORANDUM **

Eddie Lee Grayson, a California prisoner, appeals the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition, challenging his conviction and sentence for receiving an access card without consent, forgery, and second degree burglary. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 2253. We review de novo, Patterson v. Gomez, 223 F.3d 959, 962 (9th Cir.2000), and we affirm.

First, Grayson contends that he was prevented from presenting a defense, in violation of his rights under the Sixth Amendment, when the trial court instructed the jury that “intent to defraud cannot be disproved by subsequent payments.” Assuming arguendo that the trial court’s instruction restricted Grayson’s right to present a defense, his claim fails because the instruction, a correct statement of California law, was neither arbitrary nor disproportionate. See Rock v. Arkansas, 483 U.S. 44, 55-56 , 107 S.Ct. 2704 , 97 L.Ed.2d 37 (1987) (holding that restrictions on a defendant’s right to present a defense are acceptable so long as they are not “arbitrary or disproportionate”).

Grayson also contends that the instruction reallocated the burden of proof. This claim is unpersuasive, as the…