[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

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No. 19-11718

Non-Argument Calendar

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D.C. Docket No. 3:16-cv-01400-MMH-MCR

SIMON A. SANCHEZ, 

 Petitioner-Appellant,

versus

SECRETARY, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, 

FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL, 

 Respondents-Appellees.

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Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Middle District of Florida

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(June 25, 2020)

Before BRANCH, GRANT, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: 

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Simon A. Sanchez, a Florida prisoner proceeding pro se, challenges the 

district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition on the ground that his trial 

counsel’s performance was deficient. On appeal, he argues that the district court 

erred because his trial counsel’s performance was deficient when he failed to 

object to a set of jury instructions that were allegedly confusing, presumptive, and 

conclusory. 

When reviewing a district court’s denial of a § 2254 petition, we review 

questions of law and mixed questions of law and fact de novo. Pardo v. Sec’y, Fla. 

Dep’t of Corr., 587 F.3d 1093, 1098 (11th Cir. 2009). Appellate review is limited 

to the issues specified in the COA. Grossman v. McDonough, 466 F.3d 1325, 

1335 (11th Cir. 2006). Under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d), as amended by the 

Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (“AEDPA”), there is a “highly 

deferential standard for evaluating state-court rulings and [it] demands that statecourt decisions be given the benefit of the doubt.” Renico v. Lett, 559 U.S. 766,

773 (2010) (internal quotations omitted). Thus, we review the district court’s 

decision de novo but review the state court’s decision with deference. Reed v. 

Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corr., 593 F.3d 1217, 1239 (11th Cir. 2010).

A federal court may not grant a writ of habeas corpus for a state prisoner 

where the claim was adjudicated on the merits by a state court unless the state 

court’s decision: 

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(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.

28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). “The question under AEDPA is not whether a federal court 

believes the state court’s determination was incorrect but whether that 

determination was unreasonable—a substantially higher threshold.” Schriro v. 

Landrigan, 550 U.S. 465, 473 (2007). Section 2254(d) “preserves authority to 

issue the writ [of habeas corpus] in cases where there is no possibility fairminded 

jurists could disagree that the state court’s decision conflicts with [Supreme Court] 

precedents.” Harrington, 562 U.S. at 102. 

A state court decision can be contrary to established law in two ways: “(1) it 

applies a rule contradicting the governing law as set forth by Supreme Court case 

law, or (2) the state court, in a case with facts indistinguishable from those in a 

decision of the Supreme Court, arrives at a different result.” Washington v. 

Crosby, 324 F.3d 1263, 1265 (11th Cir. 2003). A state court decision represents an 

unreasonable application of clearly established federal law if the state court 

correctly identifies the governing legal rule from Supreme Court cases but 

unreasonably applies it to the facts of a case. Id. The “unreasonable application” 

inquiry requires that the state court decision “be more than incorrect or 

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erroneous”—it must be “objectively unreasonable.” Lockyer v. Andrade, 538 U.S. 

63, 75 (2003). Even if the federal court concludes that the state court applied 

federal law incorrectly, relief is appropriate only if that application is also 

objectively unreasonable. Bell v. Cone, 535 U.S. 685, 694 (2002). A petitioner 

must show that the state court’s ruling “was so lacking in justification that there 

was an error well understood and comprehended in existing law beyond any 

possibility for fairminded disagreement.” White v. Woodall, 572 U.S. 415, 419-20 

(2014).

A state court’s factual determination is generally entitled to a presumption of 

correctness, and the applicant has the burden of rebutting the presumption by clear 

and convincing evidence. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1). A state court’s factual 

determination is unreasonable if no fairminded jurist could agree with that 

determination. Holsey v. Warden, Ga. Diagnostic Prison, 694 F.3d 1230, 1257 

(11th Cir. 2012).

A state court’s summary, unexplained rejection of a constitutional issue 

qualifies as an adjudication that is entitled to deference. Harrington, 562 U.S. at 

98-99. For § 2254(d) to apply, the state court is required only to reject a claim on 

the merits, not to provide an explanation or statement of reasons. See Harrington, 

562 U.S. at 98-99. A federal habeas court deciding whether a state court’s decision 

involved an unreasonable application of federal law or was based on an 

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unreasonable determination of fact within the meaning of AEDPA, when the 

relevant state-court decision on the merits does not come accompanied with 

reasons for its decision, should “look through” the unexplained decision to the last 

related state-court decision that does provide a relevant rationale and then presume 

that the unexplained decision adopted the same reasoning. Wilson v. Sellers, 138 

S. Ct. 1188, 1192-97 (2018). 

The Constitution provides criminal defendants the right to effective 

assistance of counsel. U.S. Const., amend. VI; Strickland, 466 U.S. at 684-86. To 

demonstrate ineffective assistance of counsel, the petitioner must show that: (1) his 

counsel’s representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness; and 

(2) there is a reasonable probability that the proceeding’s result would have been 

different, but for his counsel’s ineffective assistance. Chandler v. United States, 

218 F.3d 1305, 1312-13 (11th Cir. 2000) (en banc). We engage in a “highly 

deferential” review of counsel’s performance. Id. at 1314 (internal quotations 

omitted). It is presumed that a petitioner’s counsel acted competently, and the 

petitioner must prove that his attorney’s representation was unreasonable under 

prevailing professional norms. Id. at 1314 n.15. “[A] petitioner must establish that 

no competent counsel would have taken the action that his counsel did take.” Id. at 

1315. In order to prevent the effects of hindsight, a court must analyze an 

attorney’s action from the perspective that the attorney would have had when he 

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took the action. Id. at 1316.

Prejudice is a “reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s unprofessional 

errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different.” Strickland, 466 

U.S. at 694. A reasonable probability is one sufficient to undermine confidence in 

the outcome. Id. It is not enough for the defendant to show that the error had 

some conceivable effect on the outcome of the proceeding. Id. at 693. Rather, he 

must show that the result would have been different. Id. 

When the deferential standard of Strickland is combined with the deferential 

standard of the AEDPA, the result is a doubly deferential standard of review in 

federal court. Harrington, 562 U.S. at 105. “It was meant to be, and is, difficult 

for a petitioner to prevail under that stringent standard.” Nance v. Warden, Ga. 

Diagnostic Prison, 922 F.3d 1298, 1301 (11th Cir. 2019). 

A jury instruction that is incorrect under state law is not a basis for habeas 

relief. Estelle v. McGuire, 502 U.S. 62, 71-72 (1991). The only determination that 

a federal court can make regarding allegedly incorrect state jury instructions is 

“whether the ailing instruction by itself so infected the entire trial that the resulting 

conviction violates due process.” Id. at 72. “It is well established that the 

instruction may not be judged in artificial isolation, but must be considered in the 

context of the instructions as a whole and the trial record.” Id. (internal quotations 

omitted). “In addition, . . . [federal courts] inquire whether there is a reasonable 

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likelihood that the jury has applied the challenged instruction in a way that violates 

the Constitution.” Id. (internal quotations omitted). Our inquiry will not focus on 

“whether the challenged instructions were undesirable, erroneous, or even 

universally condemned.” Jamerson v. Sec’y, Dept. of Corr., 410 F.3d 682, 690 

(11th Cir. 2005). 

Here, the district court properly denied Sanchez’s § 2254 petition because he 

failed to show that the state appellate court unreasonably applied clearly 

established federal law or relied on an unreasonable determination of the facts 

when it denied his claim for ineffective assistance of counsel. 28 U.S.C. 

§ 2254(d). Procedurally, we must defer to the state postconviction court’s decision 

regarding Sanchez’s July 2012 Rule 3.850 motion. Wilson, 138 S. Ct. at 1192-97. 

Substantively, Sanchez failed to establish that Nolan’s performance was 

deficient when he failed to object to the challenged jury instruction. To the extent 

that Sanchez argues the allegedly defective jury instruction violated state law, we

cannot grant him federal habeas relief. Estelle, 502 U.S. at 71-72. Although the 

challenged instruction arguably was worded in a confusing manner, that wording, 

alone, is not enough to show that that it “infected the entire trial” and that 

Sanchez’s conviction violated due process. Id. The jury instructions, viewed as a 

whole, provided the jury with three options to determine whether Sanchez used a 

weapon. Moreover, the instruction’s included definitions of what constitutes a 

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“weapon” and a “deadly weapon,” further correcting any confusion the allegedly 

deficient instruction might have caused. The single instruction that Sanchez 

challenges did not prevent the jury from understanding how to define a deadly 

weapon, thereby preventing a violation of his due process rights. Estelle, 502 U.S. 

at 71-72. Accordingly, we affirm. 

AFFIRMED. 

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