Gonzalez

MEMORANDUM *

David Paul Gonzalez (“Gonzalez”) appeals the district court’s dismissal of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . The district court issued a Certificate of Appealability (“COA”) with regard to one issue: “Did petitioner exhaust in state court the claim that he states as Ground One of his Second Amended Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus?” On December 23, 2003, we broadened the COA to encompass one additional claim: “Whether the district court erred in dismissing both Gonzalez’s exhausted and unexhausted claims, rather than dismissing the unexhausted claim (Ground One) and staying the exhausted petition pending exhaustion of Ground One.” We hold that the district court erred by not considering staying the exhausted claim in Gonzalez’s petition pending exhaustion of Ground One in the Nevada state courts, and accordingly vacate and remand for further proceedings consistent with this disposition.

I.

We review de novo the district court’s decision to deny a 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition. Killian v. Poole, 282 F.3d 1204, 1207 (9th Cir.2002).

The district court dismissed Gonzalez’s petition on the ground that it was a “mixed” petition…