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noting with approval that "[t]he California Supreme Court has recognized that § 3051(b) effectively moots a Miller claim by converting a juvenile's LWOP sentence into one for life with the possibility of parole after 25 years," citing People v. Franklin, 63 Cal.4th 261, 202
Summary of this case from Nogales v. MaddenOpinion
No. 17-16232
10-18-2018
REGINALD THOMAS BUNN, JR., Petitioner-Appellant. v. RAUL LOPEZ, Warden, Respondent-Appellee
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
D.C. No. 2:11-cv-01373 MCE-DB MEMORANDUM Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
Morrison C. England, Jr., District Judge, Presiding Submitted October 16, 2018 San Francisco, California Before: HAWKINS and HURWITZ, Circuit Judges, and ROSENTHAL, District Judge.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
The Honorable Lee H. Rosenthal, Chief United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas, sitting by designation.
Reginald Thomas Bunn was convicted of first-degree murder in California state court. Bunn, who was 17 years old at the time of the crime, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole ("LWOP") for the murder and to a consecutive 25-year sentence for the use of a firearm in the offense. After Bunn's conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal and three state habeas petitions were denied, Bunn filed a 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition. The district court denied the petition but issued a certificate of appealability on two of Bunn's claims. This appeal followed. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2253 and affirm.
1. Bunn was tried with three co-defendants before three separate juries. The joint trials and the trial judge's creation of a "buffer zone" between the juries and the gallery limited public seating, and Bunn could have only two supporters present during each day of the trial. Bunn argues the California Superior Court unreasonably applied Waller v. Georgia, 467 U.S. 39 (1984), in the state habeas proceedings, in rejecting his claim that the seating limitations violated his Sixth Amendment right to a public trial.
Both petitioner and respondent agree that the decision of the California Superior Court on petitioner's claim of a denial of the right to a public trial is the operative decision for purposes of AEDPA review of this claim. --------
The trial court, however, did not bar the public from any part of the proceedings or compel Bunn to proceed to trial in the absence of family or friends. To be sure, space limitations — a reality in every courtroom, exacerbated in this case by the joint trial and the court-ordered "buffer zones" — meant that not all of Bunn's supporters could attend all of the trial. But, this did not transform the trial into a closed proceeding.
Under the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996,
[a] federal court may grant a state prisoner's habeas petition with respect to a claim that was "adjudicated on the merits in State court proceedings" only if the adjudication "(1) 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; or (2) resulted in a decision that was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding."Woods v. Sinclair, 764 F.3d 1109, 1120 (9th Cir. 2014) (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)). As we recognized in United States v. Sherlock, "Waller addressed total closure of a suppression hearing and does not necessarily govern partial closures." 962 F.2d 1349, 1356 (9th Cir. 1989). The state court's denial of Bunn's Sixth Amendment claim was therefore neither contrary to nor an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court.
2. The Eighth Amendment proscribes sentencing juveniles to LWOP. Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460, 489 (2012). But, after Bunn was sentenced,
[a] person who was convicted of a controlling offense that was committed before the person had attained 18 years of age and for which the sentence is life without the possibility of parole shall be eligible for release on parole by the board during his or her 25th year of incarceration at a youth offender parole hearing, unless previously released or entitled to an earlier parole consideration hearing pursuant to other statutory provisions.Cal. Penal Code § 3051(b)(4). The Supreme Court has recognized that a state may remedy a Miller violation with legislation permitting a juvenile offender to be considered for parole. See Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S. Ct. 718, 736 (2016) (citing Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-10-301(c) (2013), which makes all juvenile homicide offenders eligible for parole after 25 years).
The California Supreme Court has recognized that § 3051(b)(4) effectively moots a Miller claim by converting a juvenile's LWOP sentence into one for life with the possibility of parole after 25 years. People v. Franklin, 370 P.3d 1053, 1060 (Cal. 2016). We agree; the district court therefore correctly denied Bunn's petition for habeas relief.
AFFIRMED.