NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS SEP 1 2015
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
JOHN BRANDON LACEY, No. 13-35917
Petitioner - Appellant, D.C. No. 2:12-cv-00037-CSO
v.
MEMORANDUM*
LEROY KIRKEGARD and ATTORNEY
GENERAL FOR THE STATE OF
MONTANA,
Respondents - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Montana
Carolyn S. Ostby, Magistrate Judge, Presiding**
Submitted August 25, 2015***
Before: McKEOWN, CLIFTON, and HURWITZ, Circuit Judges.
Montana state prisoner John Brandon Lacey appeals pro se from the district
court’s judgment denying his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas corpus petition. We have
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The parties consented to proceed before a magistrate judge.
***
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. We review de novo a district court’s denial
of a section 2254 habeas corpus petition, see Stanley v. Cullen, 633 F.3d 852, 859
(9th Cir. 2011), and we affirm.
Lacey contends that his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial was
violated by the approximately eight-and-a-half year delay between the issuance of
the warrant for his arrest and his arrest. The state court was reasonable in its
factual determination that Lacey took deliberate actions to conceal his whereabouts
in order to avoid prosecution, and that his assertions to the contrary were not
credible. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2), (e)(1); Murray v. Schriro, 745 F.3d 984,
1001 (9th Cir. 2014). Accordingly, the state did not violate Lacey’s Sixth
Amendment right to a speedy trial. See United States v. Sandoval, 990 F.2d 481,
483 (9th Cir. 1993) (defendant waives right to speedy trial when he seeks to avoid
detection by authorities).
AFFIRMED.
2 13-35917