Casey v. Brown

FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION APR 21 2010 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT JERMAINE EDWARD CASEY, No. 07-16594 Petitioner - Appellant, D.C. No. CV-04-04749-PJH v. MEMORANDUM * JULIE BROWN, Respondent - Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California Phyllis J. Hamilton, District Judge, Presiding Submitted March 16, 2010 ** Before: RYMER, McKEOWN, and PAEZ, Circuit Judges. * 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). Accordingly, appellant's request for oral argument is denied. California state prisoner Jermaine Edward Casey appeals from the district court’s judgment denying his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253, and we affirm. Casey contends that the trial court violated his due process and confrontation rights by refusing to allow defense counsel to cross-examine a witness regarding whether she had made prior false accusations of sexual assault. The record demonstrates that the trial court considered legitimate state concerns in reaching its decision, and therefore the California state court’s decision rejecting this claim was neither contrary to, nor an unreasonable application of, clearly established Supreme Court law, nor was it an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d); see Fowler v. Sacramento County Sheriff’s Dept., 421 F.3d 1027, 1038-39 (9th Cir. 2005) (holding that trial court’s weighing of legitimate state interests was not “contrary to” clearly established Supreme Court law). AFFIRMED. 2 07-16594