Basurto

MEMORANDUM *

The State of Alaska, through its representative, Frank Luna, appeals the District Court’s grant of Appellee Steven Basurto’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253 (a) and reverse.

A jury in Alaska Superior Court found Basurto guilty of two counts of sexual assault in the first degree, kidnapping, and assault in the third degree. 1 The court sentenced Basurto to a composite sentence of fifty-five and one-half years’ imprisonment. During the trial, the prosecution presented evidence of prior sexual assaults committed by Basurto against several other women. On direct appeal, the state appellate court held that the trial court’s decision not to instruct the jury on the proper use of prior bad acts evidence was error under state law, but that the error did not amount to constitutional error. 2 Basurto subsequently sought federal habeas relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 , which the District Court granted. The State timely appeals.

We review the District Court’s decision to grant habeas relief de novo. Lambert v. Blodgett, 393 F.3d 943, 964 (9th Cir.2004). Basurto’s habeas petition is governed by the Anti-Terrorism and…