From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Athans v. Scribner

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
Mar 14, 2014
563 F. App'x 529 (9th Cir. 2014)

Opinion

No. 10-56232 D.C. No. 2:05-cv-02676-RGK-OP

03-14-2014

JASON ATHANS, Petitioner - Appellant, v. WARDEN SCRIBNER, Respondent - Appellee.


NOT FOR PUBLICATION


MEMORANDUM

This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.


Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Central District of California

R. Gary Klausner, District Judge, Presiding


Submitted March 3, 2014

The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).

Pasadena, California

Before: KOZINSKI, Chief Judge, GRABER, Circuit Judge, and ZOUHARY, District Judge.

The Honorable Jack Zouhary, United States District Judge, Northern District of Ohio, sitting by designation.
--------

Petitioner Jason Athans appeals the district court's order denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Reviewing de novo, Dickens v. Ryan, 740 F.3d 1302, 1309 (9th Cir. 2014) (en banc), we affirm.

1. California state courts previously adjudicated both of Petitioner's claims for habeas relief. See Johnson v. Williams, 133 S. Ct. 1088, 1096 (2013). Thus, 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1) bars relitigation of Petitioner's claims unless the state courts' adjudication "resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States."

2. The California Court of Appeal applied the correct rule of federal law to Petitioner's ineffective assistance of trial counsel claim, and applied a rule of state law governing a request for a competency hearing that mirrors the correct federal standard. Compare People v. Koontz, 46 P.3d 335, 349-50 (Cal. 2002), with Drope v. Missouri, 420 U.S. 162, 172-73 (1975). See also Early v. Packer, 537 U.S. 3, 8 (2002) (per curiam).

3. Neither of the relevant California appellate decisions contained "an error well understood and comprehended in existing law beyond any possibility for fairminded disagreement." Harrington v. Richter, 131 S. Ct. 770, 786-87 (2011).

AFFIRMED.


Summaries of

Athans v. Scribner

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
Mar 14, 2014
563 F. App'x 529 (9th Cir. 2014)
Case details for

Athans v. Scribner

Case Details

Full title:JASON ATHANS, Petitioner - Appellant, v. WARDEN SCRIBNER, Respondent …

Court:UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

Date published: Mar 14, 2014

Citations

563 F. App'x 529 (9th Cir. 2014)