Duncan

MEMORANDUM *

Henry Earl Duncan appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. We partially reverse the district court’s denial in a separate published opinion, filed concurrently herewith, in which we remand with instructions to grant the petition for habeas corpus with respect to Duncan’s sentence and the jury’s special findings. In that opinion, we hold that counsel’s performance did not prejudice Duncan with respect to his conviction. In this memorandum disposition, we reject Duncan’s remaining claims that challenge the constitutionality of that conviction and we therefore affirm the district court’s denial of habeas relief with respect to Duncan’s conviction for first-degree felony murder.

Duncan argues that his Sixth Amendment right to a jury drawn from a fair cross-section of the community was violated because the jury selection system used in Los Angeles County at the time of his trial resulted in the underrepresentation of African Americans in the jury venire. Defense counsel failed to timely object to the racial makeup of the jury prior to the swearing in of the panel as required by California law at the time of trial and, consequently,…