Lankford v. Administrator of Prisons, Dept. of Corrections

Full title: Bryan Stuart LANKFORD, Petitioner--Appellant, v. ADMINISTRATOR OF PRISONS…

Court: United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Date published: Feb 25, 2003

56 F. App'x 811 (9th Cir. 2003)

Opinion

56 Fed.Appx. 811 (9th Cir. 2003) Bryan Stuart LANKFORD, Petitioner--Appellant, v. ADMINISTRATOR OF PRISONS, DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS,; Alan G. Lance, Respondents--Appellees. No. 01-35715. D.C. No. CV-97-00191-BLW. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. February 25, 2003

Argued and Submitted February 13, 2003.

NOT FOR PUBLICATION. (See Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure Rule 36-3)

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Idaho, B. Lynn Winmill, District Judge, Presiding.

Before BRUNETTI, T.G. NELSON and RAWLINSON, Circuit Judges.

MEMORANDUM ^*

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and may not be cited to or by the courts of this circuit except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.

We affirm for the reasons set forth in the well-reasoned district court order. In addition, defense counsel's decision not to pursue a coercion defense "was a strategic choice[ ] made after thorough investigation of law and facts relevant to plausible options ...[,]" rendering it "virtually unchallengeable." See Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 691, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984).

AFFIRMED.