Tapia

MEMORANDUM *

Juan Tapia appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging his California jury trial conviction and life sentence for attempted murder, assault with a firearm, and shooting into an inhabited building in participation with a criminal gang. Tapia claims various violations of his right to effective assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment.

The principal ineffectiveness claim involves the failure of his brother to testify. After the trial started, Juan’s co-defendant and brother, Pedro Tapia, offered to take the stand and say that Juan was not at the shooting. Both Juan’s attorney and Pedro’s attorney instructed Pedro not to testify. Juan’s attorney already had seven alibi witnesses, Pedro had never mentioned this testimony to anyone prior to trial, and Pedro’s principal defense was that Pedro himself had not been at the shooting. The California Court of Appeals correctly recognized that Juan’s attorney acted reasonably in both Juan’s and Pedro’s best interests, and that Juan’s attorney was legitimately concerned about the veracity of Pedro’s proposed testimony.

Under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of…