Sisco

MEMORANDUM **

Leo John Sisco appeals the denial of his habeas corpus petition. He claims that his counsel was ineffective in failing to adequately cross-examine the prosecution’s expert and that the jury instructions violated his due process rights by improperly shifting the burden of proof and by “unreasonably enlarging” California’s implied malice statute.

The cross-examination of the prosecution’s blood stain expert by Sisco’s counsel was within the “wide range of reasonable professional assistance.” Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 689 , 104 S.Ct. 2052 , 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). Counsel’s failure to press the expert on the alleged inconsistency in his testimony was likely a tactical decision, given that the defense later presented its own expert witness to address that very point. Because “counsel’s tactical decisions at trial, such as refraining from cross-examining a particular witness or from asking a particular line of questions, are given great deference and must ... meet only objectively reasonable standards,” Dows v. Wood, 211 F.3d 480, 487 (9th Cir.2000), the district court did not err in concluding that Sisco’s counsel met the standard for effective assistance.…