Mark McKenzie v. James Yates

FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION OCT 24 2011 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT MARK EDDIE McKENZIE, No. 08-17448 Petitioner - Appellant, D.C. No. 1:06-cv-00450-ALA v. MEMORANDUM * JAMES A. YATES, Warden, Respondent - Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California Arthur L. Alarcón, Circuit Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted September 1, 2011 San Francisco, California Before: WALLACE, BERZON and BYBEE, Circuit Judges. California state prisoner McKenzie appeals from the district court’s judgment denying his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2253, and we affirm. * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3. McKenzie contends that his constitutional right to due process was violated when, during voir dire, the judge stated that he would have the discretion to grant probation and the prosecutor stated that the court could reduce the offense to a misdemeanor. Because McKenzie does not show that the California Court of Appeal’s decision rejecting McKenzie’s contentions was contrary to or an unreasonable application of Supreme Court precedent, the district court did not err in denying the petition. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1). Further, McKenzie’s trial was not “so fundamentally unfair” that it denied McKenzie due process under Donnelly v. DeChristoforo, 416 U.S. 637, 645 (1974). AFFIRMED. 2 08-17448