Castillo

MEMORANDUM **

Christian Lewis Castillo appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . He argues that his constitutional rights were violated because the prosecutor violated the Equal Protection Clause and Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 , 106 S.Ct. 1712 , 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986), by striking five jurors on the basis of race. We AFFIRM.

Initially, we agree with the district court that Castillo has not proeedurally defaulted his Batson claim even though he did not raise the issue on direct appeal. See King v. Lamarque, 464 F.3d 963 (9th Cir.2006). We also agree with the district court’s conclusion that it was not unreasonable for the trial court to credit the prosecutor’s race-neutral reasons.

As the Supreme Court recently recognized, we “can only grant [the habeas] petition if it was unreasonable to credit the prosecutor’s race-neutral explanations for the Batson challenge.” Rice v. Collins, 546 U.S. 333 , 126 S.Ct. 969, 974 , 163 L.Ed.2d 824 (2006). In concluding the Batson analysis, the trial court stated that “the prosecutor exercised his peremptories *743 on grounds that were reasonably relevant to the case here without…