Jones

Jones v. Adams

Good Law
320 F. App'x 738
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitMarch 30, 2009No. 06-56302California223 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

California prisoner Carl A. Jones appeals from the district court’s judgment denying his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition challenging his jury-trial conviction for making a criminal threat, in violation of California Penal Code § 422. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253 , and we affirm.

Jones contends that the trial court violated his due process rights by failing to instruct the jury that a unanimous verdict was required. This court granted a certificate of appealability on the issue of whether the state court’s harmless error analysis was objectively unreasonable. However, the Supreme Court “has never held jury unanimity to be a requisite of due process of law.” Johnson v. Louisiana, 406 U.S. 356, 359 , 92 S.Ct. 1620 , 32 L.Ed.2d 152 (1972) (holding that the reasonable doubt standard does not require a unanimous jury verdict in all criminal cases). Accordingly, we conclude that the state court’s rejection of Jones’s due process claim was neither contrary to, nor involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law as determined by the Supreme Court. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d); see also Estelle v. McGuire, 502 U.S. 62, 67-68 , 112…

Sign in to read the full opinion

Create a free account to read the complete opinion text, citation history, and good-law status for this case.