Juan A. Merced v. Joseph L. McGrath Warden, Pelican Bay Prison

D.W. NELSON, Circuit Judge:

Juan Merced, a California state prisoner, appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus. In his petition, Merced makes several assignments of error, only one of which we discuss here: whether the trial court violated Merced’s constitutional rights when it excused a prospective juror based on his belief in exercising the power of jury nullification in appropriate circumstances. We affirm the district court’s denial of the habeas petition with respect to this assignment of error. 1

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Merced’s first trial in February and March 1999 ended with a…