Parker

MEMORANDUM **

Arizona state prisoner Willie Lee Parker appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing his habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 for procedural default and on the merits. Parker was convicted of misconduct involving weapons and received a ten-year sentence. We review de novo a district court’s conclusions regarding procedural default. Griffin v. Johnson, 350 F.3d 956, 960 (9th Cir.2003). We also review de novo a district court’s denial of habeas relief. Beardslee v. Woodford, 358 F.3d 560, 568 (9th Cir.2004). We affirm.

Parker first contends that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate his mental health background. The state-court record reflects that the first and only time Parker presented this claim to the Arizona courts was in a petition for review to the Arizona Supreme Court. Thus, he did not properly exhaust it. See Casey v. Moore, 386 F.3d 896, 916-18 (9th Cir.2004) (holding that a state prisoner had not exhausted his claims by presenting them for the first and only time in a petition for discretionary review with the state’s highest court); accord Castille v. Peoples, 489 U.S. 346, 351 , 109 S.Ct. 1056 , 103 L.Ed.2d 380…