Smith v. California

BACKGROUND

Smith was convicted of committing a lewd act on a child under 14 and aggravated sexual assault on a child under 14. Dkt. No. 18-1 at 2-3. Smith was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. Id. The California Court of Appeal affirmed Smith’s conviction. Id. Smith filed a petition for review in the California Supreme Court raising the following three claims: (1) insufficient evidence of force to support the conviction of committing a lewd act on a child under 14; (2) insufficient evidence of force to support the conviction of aggravated sexual assault on a child under 14; and (3) imposition of the court operations fee and criminal conviction assessment, and the failure to stay the restitution fine, violated due process. Id. at 34. The California Supreme Court denied a petition for review. Id. at 96. Smith raises three claims in this federal habeas petition: (1) trial counsel was ineffective in failing to introduce relevant exculpatory evidence which was also a violation of due process; (2) evidence of the victim’s history of prostitution was improperly excluded as it would have diminished her credibility; and (3) a violation of due process in allowing the victim of…