Cortez

MEMORANDUM *

The State of California, on behalf of Sylvia Garcia, Warden of Calipatria State Prison in California, appeals the district court’s grant of a writ of habeas corpus for Richard Cortez (“petitioner”), incarcerated in state prison for the second-degree murder of Joel Noel. Petitioner, who argued at trial he shot Noel in self-defense, claimed the trial court violated his constitutional right to present a defense when the court excluded defense-proffered evidence of a blood test showing Noel was under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the shooting, and expert witness testimony that methamphetamine use causes violent and aggressive behavior. The district court granted the petition, finding the exclusion of the evidence violated petitioner’s constitutional right to present a defense, and the unconstitutional exclusion of the evidence prejudiced the verdict. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2253 , and we reverse.

The parties are familiar with the facts and we do not recite them here except as necessary for our disposition. Petitioner contends the state trial court’s exclusion of the methamphetamine evidence (1) violated his constitutional right to…