Smith v. Clark

FILED MAR 26 2010 NOT FOR PUBLICATION MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT JOHNNY COVAL SMITH, No. 07-55837 Petitioner - Appellant, D.C. No. CV-06-05739-JSL v. MEMORANDUM * KEN CLARK, Respondent - Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California J. Spencer Letts, District Judge, Presiding Submitted March 16, 2010 ** Before: SCHROEDER, PREGERSON, and RAWLINSON, 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). AH/Research California state prisoner Johnny Coval Smith appeals pro se 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. Smith contends that the California Department of Corrections (“CDC”) miscalculated his sentencing credits under California law, and thus violated the Ex Post Facto Clause, the Sixth and Eighth Amendments, and the Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection. We agree with the district court that Smith failed to raise a cognizable federal claim, and that he failed to show a deprivation of a federally protected right. Smith failed to demonstrate that the CDC’s decision not to apply sentencing credits to his life sentence was contrary to or an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law, or that it was based on an unreasonable determination of facts in light of the evidence before it. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1); see also Estelle v. McGuire, 502 U.S. 62, 67-68 (1991). AFFIRMED. AH/Research 07-55837