COUTEE v. WALKER, 10-55138 (9th Cir. 11-17-2011)
TYREE COUTEE, Petitioner-Appellee, v. JAMES WALKER, Warden,Respondent-Appellant.
No. 10-55138.United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.Argued and Submitted November 10, 2011 Pasadena, California.
November 17, 2011.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: This case is unpublished as indicated by the issuing court.]
MEMORANDUM[fn*]
[fn*] This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Christina A. Snyder, District Judge, Presiding D.C. No. 5:08-cv-00692-CAS-RZ.
Before: SCHROEDER and REINHARDT, Circuit Judges, and HUDSON, District Judge.[fn**]
[fn**] The Honorable Henry E. Hudson, District Judge for the U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia, sitting by designation.
Warden J. Walker appeals the district court's grant of Tyree Coutee's petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Coutee argued that there was insufficient evidence toPage 2
support the true finding on a gang enhancement related to his 2006 conviction. The district court issued its opinion prior to the California Supreme Court decision in People v.Albillar, 244 P.3d 1062 (Cal. 2010), which modified the interpretation of Cal. Penal Code ยง 186.22(b)(1) previously applied by this court. We hold that the district court, in reliance on these prior opinions, erred in finding that there was insufficient evidence to uphold the enhancement. We hold that the determination by the California Court of Appeal that there was sufficient evidence supporting the enhancement as defined by the California courts was not an objectively unreasonable application of the requirements of Jackson v.Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979).
REVERSED and REMANDED.Page 1