Gastelo

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 GASPAR DRAKE, Case No. 1:18-cv-00523-NONE-JDP Petitioner, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO

DENY PETITION FOR HABEAS CORPUS

v. AND TO DECLINE TO ISSUE A

CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY

J. GASTELO,

OBJECTIONS DUE WITHIN THIRTY DAYS

Respondent. ECF No. 1 16 17 Petitioner Gaspar Drake, a state prisoner without counsel, seeks a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. ECF No. 1. Petitioner claims that the trial court improperly excluded the testimony of two witnesses necessary to his defense, in violation of his compulsory process rights. See id. at 24. The respondent argues that petitioner’s claim of state-law evidentiary error does not entitle him to relief. See ECF No. 16 at 11-16. For the reasons stated below, we recommend that the court deny the petition. I. Background In 2015, a jury sitting in Kings Court Superior Court convicted petitioner of battery on a non-prisoner and obstructing a…