Montoya

MEMORANDUM **

California state prisoner Aurelio Roger Montoya appeals pro se the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition for writ of habeas corpus, challenging his conviction and sentence for receiving stolen property. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253 . We affirm.

Montoya contends that he was denied his Sixth-Amendment right to counsel by the trial court’s denial of his motion for substitution of counsel pursuant to People v. Marsden, 2 Cal.3d 118 , 84 Cal.Rptr. 156 , 465 P.2d 44 (1970). We disagree.

During an evidentiary hearing the state trial court noted that appointed counsel actively represented Montoya and made tactical decisions on his behalf. Moreover, after reviewing the evidentiary hearing conducted by the state trial court, the state appellate court determined that any disagreement between Montoya and his appointed counsel did not signal a complete breakdown in the attorney-client relationship impeding an adequate defense. See Schell v. Witek, 218 F.3d 1017, 1026 (9th Cir.2000) (en banc) (deciding that the ultimate question in reviewing a denial of a § 2254 petition was not whether the state trial court erred in handling a…