T hi s di s pos i t i on i s notappr opr i a t e f orpubl i c a t i on and i s notpr e c e de nt * e xc e pta s pr ovi de d by9th C i r . R . 36- 3. NOT F OR P UB L I CAT I ON UN I TE D STATE S C OU RT OF APPE ALS FOR T HE NI NTH CI RC UI T MI C HA E L DE AR I NG , P e titio n e r- A p p e lla n t, v. FR AN K X . CHAV EZ , R es po nd ent- A pp el l ee . N o. 08- 16983 D . C . N o . 1 : 0 3 - c v - 0 5 3 6 4 - L J O - J MD ME MOR AN DU M *

A pp ea l fr om the U ni t ed S t at es D i stri ctC ou rt f o rth e E a s te rn D is tr ic t o f C a lif o rn ia L a w r e nc e J . O ’ N e i l l , D i s tr i c tJ udge , P r e s i di ng A r gue d a nd S ubm i tt e d D e c e m be r8, 2010 S a n F r a n c is c o , C a lif

o rn ia B efo re: H U G , D . W . N E L S O N , an dM cK E O W N , C i rcu i tJu d g es. A ppe l l a ntM i c ha e l D e a r i ng ( “ D e a r i ng” ) appe a l s the de ni a l of hi s pe t i t i on f

or aw r i tof habe a s c orpus s t e m m i ng f r om hi s no c ont e s tpl e at o va r i ous c ount s of s e xua l abus e of

ac hi l d i n C a l i f

orni as t a t e c ourt . D e a r i ng r e c e i ve d ac e rt i f i c a t e of ap p e a lab ilityo n th e q u e s tio n o f w h e th e rh is n o c o n te s t p le aw a s e n te r e dk n o w in g ly



# FI LED JAN 06 2 011 M OLLY C. DW Y ER, CLERK U . S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS- 2-

a nd vol unt a r i l y , w he n the tr i a l c ourtf a i l e d t o a dvi s e hi m of

the m a xi m um puni s hm e nttha tc oul d be i m pos e d. D e a r i ng a l s o r a i s e s the unc e rt i f i e d i s s ue of w h e th e rh is n o c o n te s t p le aw a s in v a lidb e c au s e h e w a s n o t m e n ta llyc o m p e te n t to e nt e rhi s pl e a . W e ha ve j ur i s di c t i on pur s ua ntt o 28 U . S . C . § 2253. F i ndi ng no r e v e r s ib le e rr o ro n th e c e rtif ie dq u e s tio n , w e a f

f irm . W e c o n c lu d e th a t r e a s o n ab le j uri st s w ou l d n otfi nd D eari ng ’ s uncert i fi ed cl ai m t o b e debat abl e and there fore d e c l i n e t o e x p a n dth e c e rt i f i c a t e o f ap p e a l ab i l i tya s t o th a tc l a i m. I t is u n d is p u te dth a t th e s ta te tr ia l c o u rt f a ile dto a d v is e D e a r in g o f h is m a x im u m p o s s ib le s e n te n c e b e f o r e a c c e p tin g h is n o c o n te s t p le a . T h e o n ly s e nt e nc e di s c us s e d on the r e c or d dur i ng the pl e ac ol l oquyw a s a n i nde t e rm i na t e 15- y e a r s - t o- l i f

e s e nt e nc e f

orone c ount . A ts e nt e nc i ng, how e ve r , D e a r i ng r e c e i ve d a de t e rm i na t e 82- y e a rs e nt e nc e f ors e ve r a l othe rc ount s i n a ddi t i on t o the i nde t e rm i na t e s e nt e nc e . D e a r i ng m a i nt a i ns tha tthe tr i a l c ourt ’ s om i s s i on am o u n t ed t o a co n st i tu t i o n al erro r. W e d i sag ree. A l th o u g h a tri al co u rth as a co n st i tu t i o n al o b l i g at i o n t o o b t ai n an affi rm at i v e w ai v er o f th e ri g h tag ai n st c om pul s orys e l f

- i nc r i m i na t i on, the r i ghtt o tr i a l byj ury , a nd the r i ghtt o c onf r ont o n e ’s a c c u s e r s , s e e B o

y ki n v . A la b a ma , 3 9 5 U . S. 2 3 8 , 2 4 3 ( 1 9 6 9 ) , n o Su p r e me C o u rt c a s e m a n d a te s th a t th e tr ia l c o u rt its e lf m u s t n o tif

yad e f e n d a n t o f h is m a x im u m p o s s ib le s e n te n c e b e f o r e a c c e p tin g ap le a . T h e s ta te c o u rt th e r e f o r e d id- 3-

no terr i n app l yi ng C al i forni a s t at e pre ce dent , w hi ch re qu i re s thata pl eabe se t a s i de unde rthe s e c i r c um s t a nc e s onl yw he r e pr e j udi c e i s de m ons tr a t e d. D e a r i ng fai l ed t o est ab l i sh p rej u d i ce h ere b ecau se h e p l ead ed n o co n t estfo r th e ex p ress pu rpose of s pari ng the vi ct i m fr om t es t i fy i ng attri al . A dd i t i on al l y, the re cord s tr ongl ys upport s the c onc l us i on tha tD e a r i ng ha d pe r s ona l know l e dge of the s e nt e nc i ng c ons e que nc e s . H i s tr i a l c ouns e l “ r e c a l l [ e d] s pe c i f i c a l l ydi s c us s i ng the se nt ence rang es on the[] part i cul archar ges w i th M r. D eari ng . ” T h e c o u rt’s d e te rm in a tio n w a s n o t c o n tr a ryto , o ra n u n r e a s o n ab le ap p lic a tio n o f

, c le a r lye s tab lis h e df

e d e r a l la w a s d e te rm in e db yth e S u p r e m e C o u rt. 28 U . S . C . § 2 25 4(d)(1). AF F I RME D.