Villareal

MEMORANDUM **

Villareal appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 , challenging his state-court jury conviction for first degree murder. The district court rejected Villareal’s assertion that the trial court erred in admitting the testimony of Mendoza, the victim’s husband, because Mendoza was not subject to confrontation as required by the Sixth Amendment. We review de novo the district court’s decision to deny a habeas petition, Leavitt v. Arave, 371 F.3d 663, 668 (9th Cir.2004), and affirm.

Because the parties are familiar with the facts, we do not recite them in detail. For purposes of this disposition we assume that Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 , 124 S.Ct. 1354 , 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004), applies retroactively to Villareal’s claim, see Bockting v. Bayer, 399 F.3d 1010 (9th Cir.2005), cert, granted,-U.S.-, 126 S.Ct. 2017 , 164 L.Ed.2d 778 (2006). Moreover, we shall assume that Mendoza’s statements to the police officer identifying Villareal as the shooter were testimonial in nature and their admission, without confrontation, violated Villareal’s constitutional rights. See Crawford, 541 U.S. at 69 , 124…