Hernandez v. Hendricks

OPINION OF THE COURT

HARDIMAN, Circuit Judge.

Ramon Hernandez appeals the District Court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. We granted a certificate of appealability to consider whether the state trial court’s failure to convene a hearing regarding the prosecutor’s allegedly improper use of peremptory challenges violated Hernandez’s rights to equal protection and due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. The District Court found that Hernandez’s request for a “Gilmore hearing” was a state law claim not subject to federal habeas review. We also asked…