Does a state's interpretation of jury instructions bind a federal court sitting in habeas corpus?

MultiRegion, United States of America

The following excerpt is from McCorkle v. Spearman, No. 2:16-cv-2368-JAM-EFB P (E.D. Cal. 2018):

Jury instructions are generally matters of state law and, as such, federal courts are bound by a state appellate court's determination that a particular instruction was warranted under state law. See Bradshaw v. Richey, 546 U.S. 74, 76 (2005) ("We have repeatedly held that a state court's interpretation of state law, including one announced on direct appeal of the challenged conviction, binds a federal court sitting in habeas corpus."). In order to warrant federal habeas relief, a challenged jury instruction "cannot be merely undesirable, erroneous, or even universally condemned, but must violate some due process right guaranteed by the fourteenth amendment."

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