Jones

MEMORANDUM **

Michael Ray Jones was convicted of two counts of lewd or lascivious acts with Stephanie, a child under fourteen, who was his stepdaughter at the time of the relevant events. Now on probation with a suspended sentence, Jones appeals the district court’s denial of his habeas corpus petition, which was based on ineffective assistance of counsel claims. Because the state court’s earlier rejection of these claims was not objectively unreasonable, we affirm the district court’s decision.

We review the district court’s order de novo, Rosas v. Nielsen, 428 F.3d 1229, 1232 (9th Cir.2005) (per curiam), and grant habeas corpus relief if the state court decision unreasonably applied clearly established Supreme Court precedent or was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts. 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d). Neither is the case here.

Jones claims that his trial attorney erred in rejecting a defense theory that Stephanie’s memories of molestation were once repressed and were therefore unreliable. Jones additionally challenges his attorney’s chosen defense theory, that Stephanie’s father was the actual abuser, as deficient because it was weakly supported at trial. Finally, Jones…