Walker

MEMORANDUM **

David S. Walker appeals a judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California (Best, J.) dismissing his habeas corpus petition brought pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . Familiarity with the relevant facts, procedural history and issues raised on appeal is presumed.

Walker was convicted of first-degree murder and is currently serving a sentence of thirty years’ imprisonment. He petitioned for habeas relief on May 26, 1998, asserting that, among other things, his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to file a suppression motion. The district court denied the petition and we granted a certificate of appealability solely as to the ineffective assistance of counsel claim.

Because Walker filed his petition after the effective date of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), its provisions apply. See Woodford v. Garceau, 538 U.S. 202, 207 , 123 S.Ct. 1398 , 155 L.Ed.2d 363 (2003). Moreover, the state court dismissed Walker’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim on the merits, triggering AEDPA’s deferential standard of review. 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d); see Pirtle v. Morgan, 313 F.3d 1160, 1167 (9th Cir.2002). As…