Page:United States Reports 502 OCT. TERM 1991.pdf/225

 502us1$$7H 08-21-96 15:22:22 PAGES OPINPGT

Cite as: 502 U. S. 62 (1991)

67

Opinion of the Court

McGuire committed the prior bad acts.1 The court concluded that the admission of the evidence, in conjunction with the prejudicial instruction, “rendered [McGuire’s] trial arbitrary and fundamentally unfair” in violation of due process. 902 F. 2d, at 753. We hold that none of the alleged errors rise to the level of a due process violation, and so reverse. I We first consider whether the admission of the prior injury evidence justified habeas relief. In ruling that McGuire’s due process rights were violated by the admission of the evidence, the Court of Appeals relied in part on its conclusion that the evidence was “incorrectly admitted. . . pursuant to California law.” Id., at 754. Such an inquiry, however, is no part of a federal court’s habeas review of a state conviction. We have stated many times that “federal habeas corpus relief does not lie for errors of state law.” Lewis v. Jeffers, 497 U. S. 764, 780 (1990); see also Pulley v. Harris, 465 U. S. 37, 41 (1984). Today, we reemphasize that it is not the 1 The court instructed the jury: “Evidence has been introduced for the purpose of showing that the Defendant committed acts similar to those constituting a crime other than that for which he is on trial. Such evidence, if believed, was not received, and may not be considered by you[,] to prove that he is a person of bad character or that he has a disposition to commit crimes. Such evidence was received and may be considered by you only for the limited purpose of determining if it tends to show three things: “1. The impeachment of Daisy McGuire’s testimony that she had no cause to be afraid of the Defendant, “2. To establish the battered child syndrome, and “3. Also a clear connection between the other two offense[s] and the one of which the Defendant is accused, so that it may be logically concluded that if the Defendant committed other offenses, he also committed the crime charged in this case. “For the limited purpose for which you may consider such evidence, you must weigh it in the same manner as you do all other evidence in the case. You are not permitted to consider evidence for any other purpose.” App. 40–41.