Williams v. Knowles

FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION OCT 13 2010 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT ABE WILLIAMS, Jr., No. 06-16912 Petitioner - Appellant, D.C. No. CV-03-00919-LKK v. MEMORANDUM * M. L. KNOWLES, Warden; et al., Respondents - Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California Lawrence K. Karlton, District Judge, Presiding Submitted September 13, 2010 ** Before: SILVERMAN, CALLAHAN, and N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judges. California state prisoner Abe Williams, Jr. appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment denying his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition. We have * 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). jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2253,1 and we affirm. Williams contends that the Board’s 1999 decision to deny him parole was not supported by “some evidence” and therefore violated his due process rights. The state court did not unreasonably conclude that some evidence supports the Board’s decision. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d); see also Hayward v. Marshall, 603 F.3d 546, 562-63 (9th Cir. 2010) (en banc). Williams also contends that the Board’s decision was based on a “no parole” policy and that he was entitled to parole, even though he had been found unsuitable, based on various provisions of the California Penal Code. The California court’s rejection of these claims was not contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, clearly established Supreme Court law, and was not an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d); see also Irons v. Carey, 505 F.3d 846, 851 & n.3 (9th Cir. 2007) (suitability for parole determination under California Penal Code section 3041(b) must precede the setting of a parole release date under California Penal Code section 3041(a)). 1 We expand the certificate of appealability, on our own motion, to include the issue of whether the 1999 decision of the California Board of Prison Terms (“Board”) to deny parole violated due process. We decline to expand the certificate of appealability to include any other issues raised by Williams. 2 06-16912 We deny Williams’ motion for removal of the stay of proceedings as moot. AFFIRMED. 3 06-16912