Christopher Zurcher v. Guy Hall

NOT FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FILED FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT JUN 15 2010 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS CHRISTOPHER D. ZURCHER, No. 08-35881 Petitioner - Appellant, D.C. No. 3:07-cv-00570-PK v. MEMORANDUM * GUY HALL, Superintendent, Two Rivers Correctional Institution, Respondent - Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon Garr M. King, District Judge, Presiding Submitted May 25, 2010 ** Before: CANBY, THOMAS, and W. FLETCHER, Circuit Judges. Oregon state prisoner Christopher D. Zurcher appeals from the district court’s judgment denying his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2253, and we affirm. * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). Zurcher contends that his counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to object, based on Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), to the imposition of an upward departure from the presumptive sentence under the Oregon Sentencing Guidelines based upon judge-found facts. Because Zurcher has failed to demonstrate prejudice from any alleged error, the Oregon court’s rejection of this claim was neither contrary to, nor an unreasonable application of, clearly established Supreme Court law. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1); see also Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 694 (1984). AFFIRMED. 2 08-35881