The following excerpt is from Rippey v. Brown, No. 2:11-cv-1307 EFB P (E.D. Cal. 2012):
6. If petitioner's sentence had been imposed under an invalid statute and/or was in excess of that actually permitted under state law, a federal due process violation would be presented. See Marzano v. Kincheloe, 915 F.2d 549, 552 (9th Cir. 1990) (due process violation found where the petitioner's sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole could not be constitutionally imposed under the state statute upon which his conviction was based). However, petitioner has not made a showing that such is the case here.
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