Salas

MEMORANDUM ***

Sandro Salas appeals from the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. We issued a certificate of appealability on two issues: (1) whether the introduction of the preliminary hearing testimony of Jacqueline Velasquez violated Salas’s confrontation rights; and (2) whether the exclusion of a hearsay statement made by Velasquez violated Salas’s right to present a defense. Because the decision of the California Court of Appeal was not contrary to, or an unreasonable application of federal law, we affirm the denial of the petition. We restate the facts only as necessary to explain our reasoning.

I.

This Court reviews a district court’s denial of a petition for habeas corpus de novo. Riley v. Payne, 352 F.3d 1313, 1317 (9th Cir.2003). “In conducting that review, we look to ‘the last reasoned state-court decision.’ ” Davis v. Grigas 443 F.3d 1155, 1158 (9th Cir.2006) (quoting Van Lynn v. Farmon, 347 F.3d 735, 738 (9th Cir.2003)). Under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d)(1), a writ of habeas corpus may be granted only if the state court ruling “resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established…