Thompson

MEMORANDUM *

Henry Thompson was convicted in California state court of burglary, robbery, forcible oral copulation, and false imprisonment. Thompson’s first trial for these crimes ended in a hung jury, but the jury at his second trial voted to convict. He appealed his convictions, making two arguments that are relevant to this appeal. First, he argued that his due process rights had been violated by the state trial judge’s failure to order sua sponte a competency evaluation. Second, he argued that his rights under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment had been violated when the trial judge limited his cross-examination of the victim. The state appellate court rejected both arguments. Thompson then filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in federal district court, making the same arguments. The district court denied the petition, finding that the state court’s opinion was not contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, binding Supreme Court law. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 2253, and we affirm.

1. Due Process

A judge’s obligation to order a competency hearing in criminal cases derives from Pate v. Robinson, 383 U.S. 375 , 86 S.Ct. 836 , 15…