Fawkes

MEMORANDUM ** AND ORDER

Petitioner Lester Fawkes appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, 28 U.S.C. § 2254 .

1. We deny the motion to expand the certificate of appealability. The issue of expert testimony was not raised in the habeas petition or in district court. The issue concerning contrived self-defense does not raise a substantial showing of the *782 denial of a constitutional right, as required by 28 U.S.C. § 2253 (c).

2. Sufficient evidence supported Petitioner’s conviction for first-degree murder. The jury’s failure to reach a verdict on the robbery charge did not negate the finding of “malice” necessary to convict for premeditated murder, and there was evidence of premeditation through planning, motive, and the manner of killing. People v. Anderson, 70 Cal.2d 15 , 73 Cal.Rptr. 550 , 447 P.2d 942, 949 (1968). The jury rationally could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that Petitioner deliberately decided to kill Kevin Hall for failing to pay a drug debt in full; he traveled from out of state, went to find Hall while armed, trapped Hall in a car, and shot him several times at close range. The jury’s inability to agree on whether…