Turner v. Brannon-Dortch

Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant’s habeas petition that challenged his murder conviction on ground that prosecutor’s cross-examination regarding legality of defendant’s gun possession violated his Second Amendment rights. State Appellate Court could properly find that admission of said cross-examination was not improper, where said evidence was relevant, since defendant had previously introduced evidence that he had carried loaded gun in his car, and same ruling would apply even if defendant’s firearm possession was constitutionally protected. Moreover, although fact that legality of defendant’s possession of firearm may not have been relevant, especially where prosecutor may have attempted to draw impermissible character-propensity link arising out of defendant’s possession of loaded firearm, any error of state law would not be enough to grant defendant’s habeas petition, where defendant needed to establish violation of clearly established federal law.