Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-1_18-cv-00057/USCOURTS-caed-1_18-cv-00057-8/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Janel Espinoza
Respondent
Maria Antonia Franco
Petitioner

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

MARIA ANTONIA FRANCO,

Petitioner,

v.

JANEL ESPINOZA,

Respondent.

No. 1:18-cv-00057-DAD-SKO (HC)

ORDER ADOPTING FINDINGS AND 

RECOMMENDATIONS AND DENYING

PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS 

CORPUS

(Doc. No. 29)

Petitioner Maria Antonia Franco is a state prisoner proceeding with counsel with a petition 

for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The matter was referred to a magistrate 

judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and Local Rule 302.

On June 6, 2019, the assigned magistrate judge issued findings and recommendations 

recommending that the pending petition be denied on the merits. (Doc. No. 29.) Specifically, the 

magistrate judge found that each of the three grounds for habeas relief asserted in petitioner’s 

pending petition—(1) the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that petitioner 

personally discharged a firearm that caused great bodily injury; (2) the trial court failed to use a 

pattern instruction that “fully define[d] proximate cause”; and (3) petitioner received ineffective 

assistance of counsel at trial—fail on their merits. (Id. at 6–20.) The findings and 

recommendations were served on petitioner and contained notice that any objections thereto were 

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to be filed within ten (10) days after service. (Id. at 20.) After seeking and receiving an 

extension of time to file objections, petitioner filed objections on November 18, 2019. (Doc. Nos. 

30, 31, 32.)

In accordance with the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C) and Local Rule 304, this 

court has conducted a de novo review of this case. Having carefully reviewed the entire file, 

including petitioner’s objections, the court finds the findings and recommendations to be 

supported by the record and proper analysis.

In her objections, petitioner does not meaningfully dispute the magistrate judge’s finding 

that each of the three grounds for federal habeas relief she asserts fails on the merits. The 

pending findings and recommendations lay out the standards of review for each of the three 

asserted grounds and explains why the pending petition falls short of satisfying those standards

for the granting of relief. The objections do not dispute or even address these standards and, 

instead, offer additional arguments in support of the three grounds for relief asserted by 

petitioner. (See generally Doc. No. 32.) For example, petitioner asserts that “no fairminded jurist 

would agree that Franco’s gunshot to Lopez’s left side or flank[] caused any great bodily injury” 

and that “[t]he record is clear and convincing that it was a graze wound which just nicked the 

skin” (id. at 4) (internal quotation marks omitted), but does not respond to the magistrate judge’s 

finding that petitioner failed to show (1) that the state court’s determination that petitioner’s 

actions were a substantial factor in causing the injuries sustained by the victim was unreasonable 

or (2) that the state court’s rejection of this claim was contrary to or an unreasonable application 

of the law (Doc. No. 29 at 10). Petitioner’s objections to the recommended denial of her second 

and third grounds for federal habeas relief are similarly deficient. For example, even if the court 

were to accept petitioner’s argument that the jury instruction given at her trial with respect to 

defining “proximate cause” omitted language requiring “a chronological or temporal requirement 

to the causation” (Doc. No. 32 at 9), petitioner does not contend that this purported instructional 

error had a substantial or injurious effect or influence on the jury’s verdict (Doc. No. 29 at 14). 

And, even if the court accepts petitioner’s assertion that her trial counsel could have pursued 

other avenues of investigation (Doc. No. 32 at 12), petitioner does not dispute the findings of the 

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state court and the magistrate judge that she suffered no prejudice as a result of her trial counsel’s 

alleged ineffectiveness (Doc. No. 29 at 19). Because petitioner’s objections are unpersuasive and 

the analysis set forth in the pending findings and recommendations is sound, the court will adopt 

the June 6, 2019 findings and recommendations in full. 

Finally, a state prisoner seeking a writ of habeas corpus has no absolute entitlement to 

appeal a district court’s denial of his petition, and an appeal is only allowed in certain 

circumstances. Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 335–36 (2003). Specifically, the federal 

rules governing habeas cases brought by state prisoners require a district court issuing an order 

denying a habeas petition to either grant or deny therein a certificate of appealability. See Rules 

Governing § 2254 Case, Rule 11(a). A judge shall grant a certificate of appealability “only if the 

applicant has made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right,” 28 U.S.C. 

§ 2253(c)(2), and the certificate must indicate which issues satisfy this standard, id. at (c)(3).

“Where a district court has rejected the constitutional claims on the merits, the showing required 

to satisfy § 2253(c) is straightforward: [t]he petitioner must demonstrate that reasonable jurists 

would find the district court’s assessment of the constitutional claims debatable or wrong.” Slack 

v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000). Here, petitioner has not made such a showing. 

Accordingly, a certificate of appealability will not be issued.

For the reasons set forth above,

1. The June 6, 2019 findings and recommendations (Doc. No. 29) are adopted in full;

2. The petition for writ of habeas corpus (Doc. No. 1) is denied;

3. The Clerk of the Court is directed to close this case; and

4. The court declines to issue a certificate of appealability. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: January 22, 2020 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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