Roy Blackmon v. Raymond Booker, 696 F.3d 536

1998 Detroit shooting killed Kenneth Tinsley and injured Michael Hearn and Tiffany Smith.
Petitioner Roy Blackmon was convicted by a Michigan jury of second-degree murder, using a firearm during a felony, and two assaults, with sentences as stated.
A federal district court granted a conditional writ under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, finding a due process violation from gang affiliation testimony and prosecutorial comments.
The Michigan Court of Appeals deemed the gang evidence admissible under state law and held the misconduct harmless; the district court reversed.
The Sixth Circuit held the district court failed to apply AEDPA deference properly and reversed, affirming that the Michigan court's decision was not an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether gang-affiliation evidence violated due process	Blackmon; admission biased the jury	State; evidence relevant to bias and motive	Not contrary to clearly established law; not unreasonable application
Whether prosecutorial comments rendered trial fundamentally unfair	Blackmon; comments infected trial	State; comments did not deprive due process	Not an unreasonable application; error not outcome-determinative
AEDPA standard applying state-court decisions	District court erred in applying precedents	Michigan court's ruling reasonable under Darden/Abel line	District court erred; state court decision not objectively unreasonable

Harrington v. Richter, 131 S. Ct. 770 (2011) (AEDPA deference standard; 'unreasonable application')
Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362 (2000) (clear error in applying governing law requires unreasonableness)
Darden v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 168 (1986) (prosecutorial misconduct standard; not per se denial of due process)
Abel v. United States, 469 U.S. 45 (1984) (gang membership evidence may be probative of bias)
Parker v. Matthews, 132 S. Ct. 2148 (2012) (Darden standard remains applicable; highly deferential review under AEDPA)