Merced

MEMORANDUM *

Juan Merced, a California state prisoner, appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus. In his petition, Merced makes several assignments of error, including: 1) that the trial court committed three instructional errors that violated Merced’s due process rights; 2) that the trial court constitutionally erred by permitting the prosecution to comment upon the failure of the defense to call witnesses; and 3) that the trial court erred by not striking Merced’s prior convictions as constitutionally invalid. In a separate opinion, we address Merced’s claim that the trial court violated his constitutional rights when it excused a prospective juror based on his belief in exercising the power of jury nullification in appropriate circumstances. In this memorandum disposition, we affirm the district court’s denial of the habeas petition with respect to the above three assignments of error.

I.

Petitioner claims that his constitutional rights were violated when the trial court allegedly committed three instructional errors. Two of the alleged errors involved the trial court’s failure to offer *9 instructions to the jury, sua sponte, on third party…