Najeeullah

MEMORANDUM ***

California state prisoner Mario Jerome Nejeeullah, Sr. (petitioner), appeals the district court’s dismissal of his habeas corpus petition brought under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 , as limited by 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . His habeas petition challenges his conviction for second degree murder in violation of California Penal Code § 187(a). He argues that the prosecutor’s peremptory challenges of three black male jurors were unconstitutionally based on race and gender. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 2253 and we affirm the district court.

Petitioner was convicted in 1995 in California of second degree murder under CahPenal Code § 187(a). After the prosecutor had used nine peremptory challenges during jury selection, petitioner objected to the prosecutor’s use of three of the first nine peremptory challenges to remove black male jurors. The state trial court ruled that petitioner’s counsel had failed to make a prima facie showing of discrimination and the prosecutor did not volunteer reasons for the strikes. The record does *149 not reveal what standard the trial court applied in the analysis. The state Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction, and the Supreme…