The following excerpt is from Mancilla v. Warden, No. 1:13-cv-00399-LJO-SKO HC (E.D. Cal. 2016):
Generally, claims of instructional error are questions of state law and are not cognizable on federal habeas review. "It is not the province of a federal court to reexamine state court determinations of state law questions." Estelle, 502 U.S. at 71-72. "The fact that a jury instruction violates state law is not, by itself, a basis for federal habeas corpus relief." Clark v. Brown, 450 F.3d 898, 904 (9th Cir. 2006).
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