Dixon

MEMORANDUM **

Petitioner Bobby Marion Dixon was convicted of attempted battery, assault with intent to commit rape, and misdemeanor false imprisonment. The state trial court found Petitioner sane and sentenced him to 40 years to life in prison. Petitioner seeks federal habeas corpus relief.

1. Petitioner first argues that the standard for legal insanity established by M’Naghten’s Case, 10 Cl. & Fin. 200, 8 Eng. Rep. 718 (1843), is constitutionally compelled. This argument is foreclosed by the Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Clark v. Arizona, - U.S. -, 126 S.Ct. 2709, 2722 , 165 L.Ed.2d 842 (2006), which holds that “no particular formulation has evolved into a baseline for due process, and that the insanity rule, like the conceptualization of criminal offenses, is substantially open to state choice.”

2. Next, Petitioner asserts that the trial court applied an incorrect standard for determining sanity. However, as a federal court in a habeas proceeding, we may not grant relief on the basis that a state court misapplied or misinterpreted state law. Estelle v. McGuire, 502 U.S. 62, 67-68 , 112 S.Ct. 475 , 116 L.Ed.2d 385 (1991). In any case, Dixon did not raise the issue before…