FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION APR 28 2011
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
MICHAEL J. YANCEY, No. 08-15966
Petitioner - Appellant, D.C. No. 5:05-cv-01028-JF
v.
MEMORANDUM *
JEANNE S. WOODFORD, Director of
the California Department of
Corrections; CHARLES HARRISON,
Warden of the California State Prison,
Los Angeles County,
Respondents - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of California
Jeremy D. Fogel, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted April 13, 2011
San Francisco, California
Before: KOZINSKI, Chief Judge, N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judge, and BLOCK,
District Judge.**
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The Honorable Frederic Block, Senior United States District Judge for
the Eastern District of New York, sitting by designation.
Page 2
The state court could reasonably conclude that the constitutional errors at
trial were harmless. Yancey therefore can’t make the more difficult showing of
prejudice required on collateral review. See Fry v. Pliler, 551 U.S. 112, 119–20
(2007). State courts do not have to follow the federal procedural rule on severance,
see Collins v. Runnels, 603 F.3d 1127, 1131–32 (9th Cir. 2010), and we don’t
review whether the trial court’s evidentiary rulings were proper under state law,
see Estelle v. McGuire, 502 U.S. 62, 67–68 (1991).
AFFIRMED.