Granval G. Hunter-Harrison, Jr. v. M. Atchley

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedSeptember 30, 2025
Docket2:20-cv-00592
StatusUnknown

This text of Granval G. Hunter-Harrison, Jr. v. M. Atchley (Granval G. Hunter-Harrison, Jr. v. M. Atchley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Granval G. Hunter-Harrison, Jr. v. M. Atchley, (E.D. Cal. 2025).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 GRANVAL G. HUNTER-HARRISON, No. 2:20-cv-0592-WBS-CKD P JR., 12 Petitioner, 13 FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS v. 14 M. ATCHLEY, 15 Respondent. 16 17 Petitioner Granval Hunter-Harrison, Jr., a state prisoner, proceeds pro se and in forma 18 pauperis with a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Petitioner challenges 19 a 2017 judgment in the Sacramento County Superior Court convicting him of assault with a semi- 20 automatic firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Presently at issue is petitioner’s 21 claim two in his first amended federal petition asserting ineffective assistance of counsel. For the 22 reasons set forth below, the claim is without merit and petitioner’s application for habeas corpus 23 relief should be denied. 24 BACKGROUND 25 The California Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District provided the following 26 summary of facts and procedure:1 27

28 1 The facts set forth by the state court of appeal are presumed correct. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1). 1 After a dispute over ownership of a motorbike, defendant fired at least eight shots at a truck containing the motorbike and driven by 2 the victims. The police found eight shell casings in the area where defendant was seen standing. The police also found a bullet hole near 3 the tailgate on the truck. A neighbor’s surveillance camera recorded defendant firing the gun. The People charged defendant with two 4 counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (b) )1 and being a felon in possession of a firearm (§ 29800, 5 subd. (a)(1)). The amended information included two allegations that defendant had used a semi-automatic firearm (§ 12022.5, subds. (a), 6 (d)) and further alleged that defendant was previously convicted of a strike offense (§ 667, subds. (b)-(i)) and served a term in prison (§ 7 667.5, subd. (b)). 8 Pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, defendant pleaded no contest to both assault charges, counts one and two of the amended 9 information. He also admitted the two section 12022.5 allegations and the strike. In exchange for his plea, the People moved to dismiss 10 the remaining charges and allegations and the parties stipulated to a term of 27 years four months in state prison, which included the 11 upper term of 10 years in prison for the section 12022.5 allegation on count one, and a consecutive sentence of one-third the midterm 12 for that same allegation on count two. 13 At sentencing, the court imposed the stipulated sentence[.] 14 People v. Harrison-Hunter, No. C084771, 2018 WL 1516640, at *1 (Cal. Ct. App. Mar. 28, 2018) 15 (footnote omitted). 16 Petitioner timely appealed the judgment. The California Court of Appeal for the Third 17 Appellate District examined the entire record pursuant to People v. Wende, 25 Cal.3d 436 (1979) 18 and found no arguable error that would result in a more favorable disposition. See Harrison- 19 Hunter, 2018 WL 1516640, at *2. The state appellate court modified the judgment to conform to 20 the plea regarding dismissed counts and otherwise affirmed the judgment on March 28, 2018. Id. 21 The California Supreme Court denied review on September 16, 2020. (ECF No. 13-4.) 22 Petitioner filed three state habeas petitions in the Sacramento County Superior Court, one 23 habeas petition in the California Court of Appeal, and one habeas petition in the California 24 Supreme Court. (ECF Nos. 36-1, 36-4, 36-6, 36-8, 36-10.) These petitions were denied. (ECF 25 Nos. 36-2, 36-5, 36-7, 36-9, 36-11.) 26 Petitioner initiated the present federal action on March 10, 2020.2 (ECF No. 1.) By order 27 2 Filing dates are calculated using the prison mailbox rule where applicable. See Houston v. Lack, 28 487 U.S. 266 (1988). 1 filed on February 17, 2021, the court dismissed claims one and two of the original federal petition 2 because they raised only state law claims not cognizable in federal habeas. (See ECF No. 25.) The 3 same order granted petitioner a stay and abeyance pursuant to Rhines v. Weber, 544 U.S. 269 4 (2005) and administratively stayed this action pending further exhaustion of state court remedies. 5 (Id. at 2.) By order filed on July 28, 2022, the stay of this case was lifted. (ECF No. 32.) 6 Petitioner filed his first amended federal petition raising six claims for relief on August 1, 7 2022. (ECF No. 33.) Respondent filed a partial motion to dismiss directed to claim 1 and claims 8 3-6 of the first amended federal petition. (ECF No. 35.) On September 26, 2023, the court granted 9 respondent’s partial motion to dismiss and dismissed with prejudice those claims as barred by the 10 statute of limitations. (ECF No. 62 at 2.) On November 16, 2023, respondent filed a first amended 11 answer to claim 2 of the first amended federal petition. (ECF No. 68.) Petitioner filed a traverse. 12 (ECF No. 73.) 13 STANDARDS OF REVIEW APPLICABLE TO HABEAS CORPUS CLAIMS 14 An application for a writ of habeas corpus by a person in custody under a judgment of a 15 state court can be granted only for violations of the Constitution or laws of the United States. 28 16 U.S.C. § 2254(a). A federal writ is not available for alleged error in the interpretation or 17 application of state law. See Wilson v. Corcoran, 562 U.S. 1, 5 (2010); Estelle v. McGuire, 502 18 U.S. 62, 67-68 (1991); Park v. California, 202 F.3d 1146, 1149 (9th Cir. 2000). 19 Title 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d) sets forth the following standards for granting federal habeas 20 corpus relief: 21 An application for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court shall not be granted 22 with respect to any claim that was adjudicated on the merits in State court proceedings unless the adjudication of the claim – 23 (1) resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an 24 unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States; or 25 (2) resulted in a decision that was based on an unreasonable 26 determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding. 27 28 1 For purposes of applying § 2254(d)(1), “clearly established federal law” consists of 2 holdings of the United States Supreme Court at the time of the last reasoned state court decision. 3 Greene v. Fisher, 565 U.S. 34, 37 (2011); Stanley v. Cullen, 633 F.3d 852, 859 (9th Cir. 2011) 4 (citing Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 405-06 (2000)). Circuit court precedent “‘may be 5 persuasive in determining what law is clearly established and whether a state court applied that 6 law unreasonably.’” Stanley, 633 F.3d at 859 (quoting Maxwell v. Roe, 606 F.3d 561, 567 (9th 7 Cir. 2010)). However, circuit precedent may not be “used to refine or sharpen a general principle 8 of Supreme Court jurisprudence into a specific legal rule that th[e] [Supreme] Court has not 9 announced.” Marshall v. Rodgers, 569 U.S. 58, 64 (2013) (citing Parker v. Matthews, 567 U.S. 37 10 (2012)).

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Bluebook (online)
Granval G. Hunter-Harrison, Jr. v. M. Atchley, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/granval-g-hunter-harrison-jr-v-m-atchley-caed-2025.