Full opinion text
OPINION CHRISTEN, Circuit Judge: Reynaldo Medrano Ayala appeals from the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Ayala was convicted of triple homicide in 1988, and he is currently on death row in California. He argues that his trial was fundamentally unfair, and federal ha-beas relief is therefore warranted, primarily because his lawyer unreasonably failed to impeach the prosecution’s key witnesses with evidence that would have undermined them credibility. Ayala also claims that the State concealed evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), that a San Diego police officer threatened and intimidated witnesses, and that the trial court committed several constitutional errors. Because we conclude the California Supreme Court’s resolution of Ayala’s claims was not contrary to clearly established federal law, we affirm the district court’s denial of the petition for writ of habeas corpus. BACKGROUND I. Facts On April 26, 1985, Jose Rositas, Marcos Zamora, and Ernesto Dominguez Mendez (“Dominguez”) were murdered execution-style in an auto body shop located on 43rd Street in San Diego, California. People v. Ayala, 23 Cal.4th 225, 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d 3, 11-12 (2000). Pedro “Pete” Castillo was shot at the same time, but not fatally. He claimed to have been an intended fourth victim who got away. The 43rd Street body shop was a hub for drug distribution, and Dominguez — the owner of the shop — was an active heroin distributor who may have had connections with heroin suppliers in Mexico. According to Castillo, the 43rd Street murders were a drug robbery gone wrong. The murders occurred around 8 p.m. Within a few hours, San Diego gang intelligence detective Carlos Chacon urged his counterparts in the San Diego homicide unit to investigate brothers Hector and Reynaldo Ayala and their associate Juan Manuel Meza as potential suspects. Two days later, Pete Castillo identified Ayala, Hector, and Joe Moreno as the perpetrators of the triple homicide. Id., 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d at 14. Ayala was arrested in June of 1985 and charged with three counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, one count of robbery, and three counts of attempted robbery. See Cal. Penal Code §§ 187 (murder), 664 (attempt), 211 (robbery). Hector and Joe Moreno were arrested and charged around the same time. In February 1987, San Diego police officers arrested Juan Manuel Meza for drug distribution. Meza pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine several weeks after his arrest and entered into a plea agreement that provided he would serve four years in prison. Detective Chacon, who knew Meza from childhood, visited Meza in jail several times during the spring of 1987. Meza admitted to Chacon that he helped the Ayalas plan the 43rd Street murders, even though he ultimately did not participate. Meza met with the district attorneys involved in Ayala’s case in April or May 1987 and agreed to testify against Ayala, Hector, and Moreno. In the summer of 1987, a district attorney appeared at Meza’s sentencing on the drug possession charge. The D.A. asked the judge to sentence Meza pursuant to Cal. Penal Code § 1170(d) so he could “recall the sentence and commitment previously ordered and resentence the defendant” if Meza testified in court proceedings relating to the 43rd Street murders. Cal. Penal Code § 1170(d)(1). A. Gang affiliation evidence ■Ayala and Hector were believed to be members of the Mexican Mafia — or EME — a prison gang with an active street program that operated throughout southern California, but all parties agreed that the 43rd Street murders were not gang related. Ayala’s lawyers filed a pretrial motion in limine in which they argued that mention of the Mexican Mafia or Ayala’s gang affiliation at trial would be unduly prejudicial and of questionable relevance to the case. . The state trial judge was initially disinclined to rule on the motion. He agreed with the prosecution that it would be difficult to rule on the admissibility of gang affiliation evidence before hearing each witness’s testimony. The defense team pursued this pre-trial ruling for months, persistently arguing that, without a ruling, they would not be able to “strategize [and] determine what course of action to take with regard to jury selection and cross-examination.” The judge ultimately relented and ruled as follows: [G]ang affiliation has nothing to do with motive in terms of this particular case, so there will be no testimony concerning motive dealing with the Mexican Mafia. We know that that’s not the case. Gang affiliation has nothing to do with the identity issue that’s presented, so there will be no Mexican Mafia testimony concerning gang affiliation. Let me indicate this: That with reference to credibility, the court’s going to require a 403 hearing if, in fact, we’re going to have to get into this, the people see that after cross-examination. We’ll deal with that on each witness. If, in fact, the people perceive a need to deal with the credibility issue, then I’m going to do it at side-bar before it goes in front of the jury. I’m going to further request that the people admonish their witnesses not to voluntarily mention any gang affiliation, that each witness be admonished on that point.... They will be admonished on direct. The trial judge also said he would instruct witnesses not to mention gangs in their cross-examination testimony, but “if the question calls for that response, then so be it.” As the trial progressed, the court ruled that each witness could mention “group” or “association” if necessary, but not “EME” or “Mexican Mafia.” B. The State’s case Ayala’s trial began in August 1988 and lasted two months. “The prosecution theorized that the murders resulted from a robbery attempt that failed because it was based on the perpetrators’ incorrect speculation that Dominguez had just returned from Mexico with a quantity of narcotics or cash.” Ayala, 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d at 12. The State presented minimal physical evidence linking Ayala to the crimes and instead built its case around the testimony of Pete Castillo and Juan Manuel Meza. Castillo testified that Dominguez and Zamora sold heroin from the shop and that he was also involved in the heroin distribution operation. He described how Ayala and Hector frequented the shop to use and acquire heroin, and told the jury that he saw Ayala, Hector, and Joe Moreno outside of the body shop on the day of the murders, April 26, 1985. Id. 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d at 13. At dusk, Castillo looked up from his work on a car and saw Hector pointing a pistol at his head. Id. Hector led Castillo into the shop where Dominguez, Zamora, and Rositas were bound by duct tape. Id. Castillo testified that Ayala demanded $10,000 from the victims, “or someone was going to die.” Id. 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d at 14. Castillo volunteered that he had some money in his truck, and Ayala agreed to lead him there. Castillo used this opportunity to escape. He lifted the large shop door, slid under it, and let it slam down behind him. As he ran into the street, someone, likely Ayala or Moreno, fired shots at him, and Castillo was wounded in the back. Castillo fell onto 43rd Street, where police officers found him and rushed him to the hospital. Id. Castillo did not immediately identify the Ayalas or Joe Moreno as the perpetrators of the crime. Rather, “while in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, [he] said he did not know the killers [but] that one of them was wearing a red plaid shirt.” Id. 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d at 15. The next day at the hospital, Castillo repeated “that one of the killers was wearing a red Pen-dleton shirt” when he was interviewed by a detective. Id. But the day after that, Castillo identified the Ayalas and Joe Moreno as the killers and also picked them out of a photo array. Id. 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d at 14. In addition to providing an eyewitness account of the crimes, Castillo’s testimony corroborated the prosecution’s theory of the case: He told the jury that Hector inquired about Dominguez’s whereabouts roughly a week before the murders when Dominguez was in jail for minor offenses. Id. 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d at 12. Pursuant to Dominguez’s request, Castillo told Hector that Dominguez was in Mexico rather than revealing that he was in jail. Id. Juan Meza was also an important witness for the State because he testified that he helped plan the murders before backing out on the day of the crime. Meza told the jury that he and Hector went to the body shop to acquire drugs more than ten times between January and April 1985. He explained that about three weeks before the murders, the Ayala brothers became angry with Dominguez over a drug transaction, and Ayala proposed robbing and killing Dominguez and some of the people who worked with him. Meza testified that in the weeks before the murder, he and the Aya-las talked about Dominguez’s trip to Tijuana to buy a large amount of drugs, tying the victims, and the types of guns they would use to commit the crime. Meza also described how, about a week before the murders, Hector recruited Joe Moreno to serve as the getaway driver. Meza testified that he went along with the Ayalas’ plan but he never intended to participate in the murders because he feared the Ayalas would use the crime as an opportunity to kill him. According to Meza, Hector told him to be ready to be picked up on April 26 between 5 and 6 p.m., but Meza avoided his home at the appointed time. C. The defense The defense presented evidence that “Castillo was in league with the probable actual killers: two young Latino men, one of whom was wearing a red plaid shirt of the Pendleton brand or type.” Id. 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d at 15. The defense also focused on raising reasonable doubt by discrediting the State’s primary witnesses. Ayala’s trial counsel offered the testimony of Traci Pittman in support of the defense’s alternative-assailant theory. Pittman testified that on the night of the murders she was at a liquor store across 43rd Street and a young Mexican man wearing a Pendleton-type shirt walked past her. Id. She thought he was concealing something that could have been a gun. Id. Pittman said the Mexican man was joined by a second Mexican-looking man, and the two disappeared into the complex containing the body shop. Id. Two minutes later, Pittman heard gunshots, saw a man — presumably Castillo — running from the body shop, and then heard several more shots. Id. At trial, defense counsel asked Pittman whether Ayala was one of the men she saw the night of the murder, and Pittman answered “no.” Pittman’s testimony corroborated Castillo’s initial identification of the killer as someone (not Hector or Reynaldo Ayala) who was wearing a red, Pendleton-style shirt. The defense also called Rafael Mendoza Lopez (“Rafa”) as a witness. Rafa was a long-time friend of Dominguez who frequented the body shop to purchase drugs. Id. 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d at 15-16. On direct examination, Rafa testified that he went to the body shop on the day of the murders to get heroin from Castillo, and he saw several strangers whom he perceived to be from Mexico. Rafa testified that he did not see the Ayalas at the shop that day. Rafa described standing next to Castillo when Castillo opened the trunk of a car and took out two guns that were buried in a pile of dirty clothes. Rafa recalled Castillo telling him “that he was waiting for some people from Mexico.” The defense endeavored to weaken the State’s case by impeaching its primary witnesses, Castillo and Meza. Counsel cross-examined Castillo about his role in the body shop’s drug distribution business and false statements he made during the preliminary hearing in which he denied any knowledge of drug-related activity at the body shop. Id. 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d at 14-15. The defense emphasized that Castillo did not initially identify Ayala as the killer, but rather said the killer was a stranger “wearing a red Pendleton shirt.” Id. 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d at 15. Counsel impeached Meza with the fact that he was testifying in the hope of getting his sentence reduced, inconsistencies in his story, that it took more than a year for him to come forward, meetings he had with Chacon before deciding to testify, and a statement he made to his parole officer in which he admitted he had a propensity for lying. D. The State’s rebuttal Rafa dramatically recanted his testimony in the prosecution’s rebuttal. Called back to the witness stand, he told the jury that he invented the story about Castillo taking guns from the trunk of a car and commenting about waiting for people “from Mexico.” He also admitted, contrary to his earlier account, that he did see the Ayalas at the body shop late in the afternoon on the day of the murders. When asked why he lied on Ayala’s behalf, Rafa testified that he did it because Ayala asked him to, and because he was afraid that if he refused to help the Ayalas, he “might, you know, get killed or something.” According to Rafa, Ayala asked him to testify falsely for the defense at a jailhouse visit that occurred shortly after Ayala’s arrest in the summer of 1985. Rafa explained that Ayala pressed a piece of paper against the visiting room glass separator. A handwritten note on the paper instructed Rafa to get in touch with a defense investigator and tell him “that [the Ayalas] weren’t [at the shop] on that date, make it seem like it was some Mexicans from across the border that Pete [Castillo] had hired to come and do the hit.” Rafa testified that the note described the guns Rafa should connect with Castillo and said: “[w]hat happened to Chacho [Dominguez] had to happen.” Lead defense counsel vigorously cross-examined Rafa about his flip-flopped testimony. Counsel questioned the plausibility of Rafa’s meeting with Ayala, including how Ayala could write such intricate directions on a piece of paper small enough to avoid detection by prison guards. Id. 96. Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d at 16. She also introduced evidence that cast doubt on the credibility of Rafa’s recantation. Id. In particular, though Rafa testified that a person with the nickname “Rudy Green Eyes” Ybarra accompanied him on the visit to see Ayala in jail, counsel showed that “Rudy Green Eyes” was incarcerated at that time. Id. Defense counsel also explored a meeting Rafa had with Detective Chacon during which, counsel believed, Chacon coerced Rafa into recanting. Chacon visited Rafa shortly after Rafa testified for the defense, when Rafa was in a holding cell awaiting transport back to prison. During this visit, Chacon accused Rafa of perjuring himself to get into the good graces of the prison’s “Southern” group, with which Ayala was affiliated. Chacon told Rafa he believed this effort failed and that Rafa would face danger from both the “Southern” group and a rival “Northern” group once he returned to prison. Rafa admitted that Cha-con discussed protecting him against these groups, and defense- counsel accused Rafa of trading his testimony for the relative safety Chacon promised. On redirect, Rafa confirmed that he feared the “Southern” and “Northern” groups and believed Ayala had “influence over what other people in this Southern group might do,” but he denied that Chacon frightened him into recanting his testimony. Rafa maintained that he willingly told Chacon the truth because he was angry that people affiliated with Ayala “show[ed him] no kind of respect” even after he promised to lie on Ayala’s behalf. E. Detective Carlos Chacon Detective Carlos Chacon testified only briefly at trial, but Ayala argues that Cha-con played a significant behind-the-scenes role in this case. Chacon was a San Diego gang intelligence officer whose regular duties required that he gather intelligence about prison gangs operating in southern California, including the Mexican Mafia. Chacon had pre-trial contact with several of the witnesses in Ayala’s trial. In addition to meeting with Rafa just before he agreed to recant the testimony he gave on Ayala’s behalf, Chacon visited Juan Meza after Meza’s February 1987 drug arrest, and the two discussed the 43rd Street murders. Meza was a Mexican Mafia affiliate who spent much of the decade between 1975 and 1985 in prison. Chacon was well acquainted with Meza because the two grew up in the same neighborhood. Chacon frequently visited Meza in jail to elicit information about gangs. Several weeks after one such visit, Meza admitted to his involvement in planning the 43rd Street murders, and several months after that, he agreed to testify against the Ayalas. F. The verdict After deliberating for less than a week, the jury found Ayala guilty of all charges. Id. 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d at 11, 1 P.3d at 14. The trial court sentenced him to death in early January 1989, and Ayala appealed. Ayala filed a state habeas corpus petition in the California Supreme Court while his direct appeal was pending. The petition raised several, claims for relief and requested an evidentiary hearing. The California Supreme Court decided Ayala’s direct appeal in June 2000, affirming Ayala’s conviction and sentence in a reasoned opinion. See id. 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d at 52. The California Supreme Court summarily denied Ayala’s habeas corpus petition on the same day. Ayala’s conviction became final on March 5, 2001, when the United States Supreme Court denied his petition for writ of certiorari. See Ayala v. California, 532 U.S. 908, 121 S.Ct. 1235, 149 L.Ed.2d 143 (2001) (mem.). II. Procedural history Ayala timely filed a federal habeas corpus petition in the Southern District of California. Shortly thereafter, the district court stayed the federal proceedings so Ayala could return to state court and exhaust several of his claims. Ayala filed his first amended petition for writ of habeas corpus (henceforth, “Exhaustion Petition”) in the California Supreme Court in September 2002. He filed two exhibits with his Exhaustion Petition: (1) a declaration by defense investigator Eric Hart; and (2) a declaration by Strickland expert Steven L. Harmon. He also requested an evidentiary hearing. The California Supreme Court summarily denied each of Ayala’s claims on the merits the following year. “[SJeperately and independently,” the court found many of Ayala’s claims to be procedurally barred as untimely. Ayala then filed a first amended petition for writ of habeas corpus in federal district court in which he asserted seventy-five claims for relief. Between February 2008 and June 2009, the district court issued three orders resolving cross-motions for summary judgment on most of Ayala’s claims. The court decided that some of Ayala’s ineffective assistance of counsel and witness intimidation claims were potentially meritorious, and it granted Ayala’s request for an evidentiary hearing on them. The district court’s evidentiary hearing on Ayala’s ineffective assistance of counsel and witness intimidation claims spanned twenty court days over a period of nine months in 2010. The district court took testimony from about twenty witnesses, and the parties introduced nearly 120 exhibits. Following this hearing, Ayala filed a third amended habeas corpus petition for the sole purpose of adding a new claim, the seventy-sixth, based on testimony adduced at the hearing. On March 28, 2013, the district court issued a lengthy, well-reasoned order granting the State’s motion for summary judgment on Ayala’s remaining exhausted claims. See Ayala v. Chappell, No. 01CV0741-BTM, 2013 WL 1315127 (S.D. Cal. Mar. 28, 2013). In a separate order, it granted the State’s motion for summary judgment, and denied Ayala’s request for a certificate of appealability (COA), on Ayala’s unexhausted seventy-sixth claim. The court issued a final judgment and granted a COA on twenty-six claims, including sixteen of the seventeen claims raised here. Ayala timely filed a notice of appeal. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. LEGAL STANDARDS We review de novo the district court’s denial of Ayala’s habeas corpus petition. Hurles v. Ryan, 752 F.3d 768, 777 (9th Cir. 2014). The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA) governs Ayala’s petition because he filed it after 1996. AEDPA substantially limits the power of federal courts to grant habeas relief to state prisoners. See id. Under AEDPA, a federal court may not grant a prisoner’s petition on a claim that was decided on the merits in state court unless the state court’s adjudication of the claim: (1) resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States; or (2) resulted in a decision that was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d); see also Glebe v. Frost, — U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 429, 430, 190 L.Ed.2d 317 (2014). “ ‘[C]learly established Federal law1 ... is the governing legal principle or principles set forth by the Supreme Court [in its holdings] at the time the state court renders its decision.” Lockyer v. Andrade, 538 U.S. 63, 71-72, 123 S.Ct. 1166, 155 L.Ed.2d 144 (2003). A state court’s decision is contrary to clearly established federal law “if the state court applies a rule that contradicts the governing law set forth in [the Supreme Court’s] cases” or “confronts a set of facts that are materially indistinguishable from a decision of [the] Court and nevertheless arrives at a result different from [Supreme Court] precedent.” Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 405-06, 120 S.Ct. 1495, 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000). A state court’s decision is an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law if it “correctly identifies the governing legal rule but applies it unreasonably to the facts of a particular prisoner’s case.” Id. at 407-08, 120 S.Ct. 1495. A state court’s factual findings are unreasonable if “reasonable minds reviewing the record” could not agree with them. Brumfield v. Cain, — U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 2269, 2277, 192 L.Ed.2d 356 (2015) (alteration omitted) (quoting Wood v. Allen, 558 U.S. 290, 301, 130 S.Ct. 841, 175 L.Ed.2d 738 (2010)). In any case, “[f]or relief to be granted, a state court merits ruling must be ‘so lacking in justification that there was an error ... beyond any possibility for fairminded disagreement.’ ” Bemore v. Chappell, 788 F.3d 1151, 1160 (9th Cir. 2015) (quoting Harrington v. Richter, 562 U.S. 86, 103, 131 S.Ct. 770, 178 L.Ed.2d 624 (2011)). When- considering whether a state court’s decision was unreasonable under § 2254(d)(1), we may consider only “the record that was before the state court that adjudicated the claim on the merits.” Cullen v. Pinholster, 563 U.S. 170, 181, 131 S.Ct. 1388, 179 L.Ed.2d 557 (2011). But if we determine “the petitioner has satisfied § 2254(d)” based only on the evidence that was before the state court, “we evaluate the claim de novo, and we may consider evidence properly presented for the first time in federal court.” Crittenden v. Chappell, 804 F.3d 998, 1010 (9th Cir. 2015) (quoting Hurles v. Ryan, 752 F.3d 768, 778 (9th Cir. 2014)). We apply AEDPA’s standards to the state court’s last reasoned decision on the merits of a petitioner’s claims. Edwards v. Lamarque, 475 F.3d 1121, 1126 (9th Cir. 2007) (en banc). The California Supreme Court decided seven of the claims at issue here in its reasoned decision on direct review. See Ayala, 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d at 17-42, 48-52. Ayala raised the remaining claims in his Exhaustion Petition, so the only merits decision on those claims is the California Supreme Court’s September 2003 summary denial. See Harrington, 562 U.S. at 98, 131 S.Ct. 770 (holding that a summary denial from the California Supreme Court is an “adjudication] on the merits” under AEDPA). For claims that the California Supreme Court decided on direct appeal, “we apply AEDPA deference to the state court’s analysis.” Bemore, 788 F.3d at 1161. For claims that the California court addressed only in its summary denial, “we conduct an independent review of the record to ‘determine what arguments or theories ... could have supported [] the state court’s decision.’ ” Id. (quoting Harrington, 562 U.S. at 102, 131 S.Ct. 770) (alterations in original); see also Cannedy v. Adams, 706 F.3d 1148, 1157-59 (9th Cir. 2013) (for claims addressed both in a summary denial and a reasoned opinion, we “look through” the summary denial to review the reasoned decision). DISCUSSION I. Procedural bar We first address the State’s threshold argument that the procedural bar doctrine prevents us from reaching the merits on several of Ayala’s claims. The procedural bar doctrine prohibits a federal court from granting relief on the merits of a state prisoner’s federal claim when the state court denied the claim based on an independent and adequate state procedural rule. Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U.S. 722, 729-30, 111 S.Ct. 2546, 115 L.Ed.2d 640 (1991). The doctrine is implicated where, as here, the state court’s “reliance upon [the state’s] procedural bar rule was an independent and alternative basis for its denial of the petition.” Loveland v. Hatcher, 231 F.3d 640, 643 (9th Cir. 2000). Even if the procedural bar doctrine otherwise precludes relief on a prisoner’s claim, he or she “may obtain federal review of [that] claim by showing cause for the default and prejudice from a violation of federal law.” Martinez v. Ryan, — U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 1309, 1316, 182 L.Ed.2d 272 (2012). In its 2003 summary denial of Ayala’s Exhaustion Petition, the California Supreme Court ruled that many of the seventy-five claims included in the petition were “procedurally barred ... as untimely” in addition to denying them on the merits. See In re Clark, 5 Cal.4th 750, 21 Cal.Rptr.2d 509,855 P.2d 729, 737-62 (1993). The State argued before the district court that the procedural bar doctrine prevented the court from granting relief on claims the California court dismissed as untimely. The district court rejected the State’s procedural bar arguments after concluding that “the procedural rules in question are [not] sufficient to prohibit the consideration of these claims on the merits.” After the district court issued this ruling and held an evidentiary hearing on the merits of Ayala’s petition, the Supreme Court decided Walker v. Martin, 562 U.S. 307, 131 S.Ct. 1120, 179 L.Ed.2d 62 (2011). Walker holds that California’s timeliness rule is an independent and adequate state law ground sufficient to bar federal habeas relief on untimely claims. See id. at 310, 315, 317, 131 S.Ct. 1120 (citing In re Clark, 21 Cal.Rptr.2d 509, 855 P.2d at 738 & n.5). Citing Walker, the State raised the procedural bar doctrine in its final summary judgment briefing to the district court. The district court still declined to resolve Ayala’s federal petition on procedural grounds. Having concluded the 20-day evi-dentiary hearing and foregone defense counsel’s offer to brief cause and prejudice, the court reasoned that “deciding the merits of [each] claim will prove to be less complicated and time-consuming than adjudicating the issue of procedural default.” The district court relied on our decision in Franklin v. Johnson, 290 F.3d 1223 (9th Cir. 2002), to reach the merits of Ayala’s claims. Id. at 1232 (“[C]ourts are empowered to, and in some cases should, reach the merits of habeas petitions if they are ... clearly not meritorious despite an asserted procedural bar.”). The State renews its procedural bar argument here, and we follow the same tack as the district court. The State is correct that Walker precludes relief on several of Ayala’s claims unless Ayala demonstrates cause and prejudice for his procedural default, see Walker, 562 U.S. at 316, 131 S.Ct. 1120, but the parties did not develop a record on cause and prejudice. See, e.g., Loveland, 231 F.3d at 644-45 (remanding for the district court to hold an evidentiary hearing on cause and prejudice). Thus, in keeping with Franklin’s admonishment that where claims are “clearly not meritorious,” “appeals courts are empowered to, and in some cases should, reach the merits of habeas petitions ... despite an asserted procedural bar,” 290 F.3d at 1232, we proceed to evaluate Ayala’s claims on the merits. II. Ineffective assistance of counsel Ayala first argues that his defense team was constitutionally ineffective because his lawyers failed to present evidence that would have called into question the credibility of key prosecution witnesses Meza and Castillo. More specifically, Ayala claims trial counsel unreasonably declined to call witnesses: (1) Richard Savoechio and Raul Garcia, who would have testified that Meza invented his story about the Ayalas’ participation in the 43rd Street murders to obtain a reduction in his own custodial time, and (2) Johnny Mendez and Luis Garcia, who would have testified that Castillo “had, prior to the murders, solicited [them] to kill victim Zamora.” “The clearly established federal law for ineffective assistance of counsel [“IAC”] claims, as determined by the Supreme Court, is Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984) . . . . ” Andrews v. Davis, 798 F.3d 759, 774 (9th Cir. 2015). To prevail on an IAC claim, a defendant must establish that his counsel’s performance was constitutionally deficient, and that “the deficient performance prejudiced the defense.” Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Strickland’s “deficient performance” prong requires a defendant to show “that counsel’s representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness” such that “counsel was not functioning as the ‘counsel’ guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment.” Id. at 687-88, 104 S.Ct. 2052. In evaluating a lawyer’s performance, “a court must indulge a strong presumption that counsel’s conduct falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance; that is, the defendant must overcome the presumption that, under the circumstances, the challenged action ‘might be considered sound trial strategy.’ ” Id. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052 (quoting Michel v. Louisiana, 350 U.S. 91, 101, 76 S.Ct. 158, 100 L.Ed. 83 (1955)). Strickland’s “prejudice” prong requires a defendant to show “there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome.” Id. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052. “Under the AEDPA, the primary issue is whether the state court adjudication of the Strickland claim[ ] was objectively reasonable.” Woods v. Sinclair, 764 F.3d 1109, 1131 (9th Cir. 2014). “The standards created by Strickland and § 2254(d) are both ‘highly deferential,’ and when the two apply in tandem, review is ‘doubly’ so.” Harrington, 562 U.S. at 105, 131 S.Ct. 770 (citations omitted). Thus, even if we would find, on de novo review, that petitioner can satisfy both Strickland prongs, “AEDPA requires that a federal court find the state court’s contrary conclusions ... objectively unreasonable before granting habeas relief.” Woods, 764 F.3d at 1132. A. The defense team’s“no-gang” approach Long before trial started, Ayala’s defense team decided on a plan to insulate the jury from hearing evidence that Ayala was affiliated with the Mexican Mafia. This plan informed defense counsels’ decisions not to present the testimony of several impeachment witnesses whom they believed were affiliated with prison gangs. Ayala now argues that his lawyers’ decisions not to call these witnesses amounted to deficient performance under Strickland, and that the California Supreme Court’s denial of this IAC claim was unreasonable. We analyze this argument by considering first whether the California Supreme Court reasonably applied Strickland’s deferential standard when it upheld the defense’s “no-gang” trial plan, and then whether the defense team’s decision not to call individual witnesses was consistent with the plan. The California court did not evaluate counsels’ overall “no-gang” plan in a reasoned decision, so we “determine what arguments or theories ... could have supported[ ] the state court’s decisionf ] and then ... ask whether it is possible fair-minded jurists could disagree that those arguments or theories are inconsistent with the holding in a prior decision of’ the Supreme Court. Harrington, 562 U.S. at 102, 131 S.Ct. 770. We conclude that the California Supreme Court reasonably deferred to defense counsels’ choices regarding exclusion of gang affiliation evidence. The record leaves no doubt that counsels’ effort to avoid mention of the Mexican Mafia or EME at trial was a carefully considered, deliberately undertaken strategy, the likes of which we cannot second-guess on federal habeas review. In People v. Cardenas, 31 Cal.3d 897, 184 Cal.Rptr. 165, 647 P.2d 569 (1982), the California Supreme Court recognized that gang affiliation evidence is prejudicial because it invites a jury to find a defendant guilty by association. Id., 184 Cal.Rptr. 165, 647 P.2d at 572. Ayala’s lawyers cited Cardenas’s progeny in their motion in li-mine to exclude gang affiliation evidence, where they argued that mention of the Mexican Mafia would unduly prejudice Ayala. They attached to their motion dozens of newspaper articles documenting the prevalence of gang violence in Southern California, and argued that jurors would likely have negative impressions of gangs. Counsel doggedly pursued a ruling on this motion in limine for nearly a year, insisting that without a ruling the defense would be unable to “strategize [and] determine what course of action to take with regard to jury selection and cross-examination.” In light of community awareness of gang-related violence in San Diego in the mid-1980s, we cannot say that the defense trial team’s decision to insulate the jury from Ayala’s gang affiliation was unreasonable, nor are we persuaded that the California Supreme Court unreasonably applied Strickland when it deferred to the defense team’s informed, strategic choice. See Harrington, 562 U.S. at 105, 131 S.Ct. 770. Ayala nevertheless argues that his lawyers’ failure to call witnesses with any' connection to a gang was overly cautious and unduly hindered Ayala’s defense. We disagree. Ayala’s argument assumes that defense counsel could have controlled the extent to which the trial court would have allowed the prosecution to explore a witness’s gang affiliation on cross-examination if the subject had been broached on direct examination. But the record refutes that assumption. The trial court did not. categorically prohibit all gang-related testimony because, as the court made clear in its ruling on the defense motion in limine, a witness’s gang affiliation could be highly relevant to his or her motive to lie on Ayala’s behalf. The court correctly ruled that such testimony might be admitted on cross examination if “the people perceive a need to deal with the credibility issue” or “if [a] question calls for that response,” and it did not specify whether or to what extent a witness’s mention of gangs might open the door to evidence that could connect Ayala to the Mexican Mafia. And even though the trial court cautioned each witness not to mention the Mexican Mafia, defense counsel risked losing command of a witness’s testimony once the witness was on the stand. See Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc., 614 F.3d 1070, 1089 (9th Cir. 2010) (en banc) (recognizing the inherent unpredictability in presenting witness testimony). For these reasons, calling any witness with a gang connection necessarily entailed some risk of tainting Ayala in the jury’s eyes, and the defense team’s cautious approach to these witnesses was well within the broad “range of reasonable professional assistance.” Strickland, 466 U.S. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052; see also id. at 690, 104 S.Ct. 2052 (“[Strategic choices made after thorough investigation of law and facts relevant to plausible options are virtually unchallengeable.”). B. Counsel’s decision not to call Richard Savocchio . Ayala’s primary IAC claim is that his lawyers were constitutionally ineffective because they failed to impeach Juan Meza with the testimony of inmate Richard Sa-vocchio. Defense counsel subpoenaed Savocchio in anticipation of his testifying on Ayala’s behalf. Savocchio’s prison file showed that he had some sort of problem with the Mexican Mafia while incarcerated so, consistent with its pre-trial ruling, the trial court required him to testify at a hearing outside of the jury’s presence to determine the extent to which he could be impeached before the jury with evidence of gang ties. Ayala, 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d at 31. Savocchio said that he and Meza were incarcerated together after the 43rd Street murders and that Meza told him: “these guys [the Ayalas] are going down anyhow, and I’m going to get something out of it. It’s all bullshit. I don’t know anything about it, they are going anyways.” Defense counsel argued that “Savocchio understood the meaning of the conversation to be that Mr. Meza was cutting a deal for himself to testify in the case about which he knew nothing.” The prosecution and the defense both asked Savocchio about the gang notation in his prison file, and Savocchio denied any gang affiliation. He testified that he was not acquainted with any Mexican Mafia members. Savocchio explained that the gang notation in his file related to a lie he told years earlier: In order to manipulate a transfer out of Folsom State Prison, he falsely claimed he owed a debt to a Mexican Mafia member incarcerated there. After hearing Savocchio’s testimony outside the presence of the jury, the trial court ruled that if the defense called Sa-vocchio to testify, the prosecution would be allowed to impeach Savocchio with his admission that he lied to prison officials and that the lie involved the Mexican Mafia. The defense expressed concern that the prosecutor’s cross-examination about the Mexican Mafia might backfire and harm Ayala and so decided against calling Sa-vocchio. Ayala argued on direct appeal that his trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective for declining to call Savocchio, and the California Supreme Court rejected this argument in a reasoned decision. Id. 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d at 32-33. Ayala raised the same Savocchio-based IAC claim on federal habeas review with slightly better results. The district court ruled that the California Supreme Court’s resolution of this claim was unreasonable under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1) because the state court’s rationale for denying it was inconsistent with its reasoning on a related evidentiary ruling. The district court reviewed de novo Ayala’s claim that his lawyers were ineffective for failing to call Savocchio and still denied relief. After thoroughly examining the record, including new evidence Ayala adduced at the 2010 evidentiary hearing, the district court concluded that counsels’ decision regarding Savocchio did not prejudice Ayala. Ayala renews this IAC claim in our court, pressing his strongest theory: if nothing else, Ayala argues, the defense should have reopened its case to call Savocchio after Rafa recanted because at that point the jury must have known Ayala was affiliated with a gang, and there would have been nothing to lose by allowing the jury to hear Savocchio’s anticipated reference to the Mexican Mafia. We agree that the cost-benefit analysis associated with Savocchio’s testimony significantly changed after Rafa recanted. Recalled to the witness stand by the prosecutor, Rafa told the jury that he had seen the Ayala brothers at the shop on the day of the murders and that he lied when he said otherwise because Ayala asked him to. He testified that he knew of (and feared) the “Northern group” and the “Southern group” at Donovan State Prison. When asked by the prosecutor whether he “believe[d] that the defendant in this case has any influence over what other people in this Southern group might do, as it pertains to you,” Rafa answered “[y]es.” He also said he initially testified for Ayala because he was afraid that if he did not “cooperate with” the Ayalas he might “get killed or something.” Rafa’s recantation certainly marked a sea change in the trial, but we are not convinced that his testimony about the “Southern” and “Northern” groups inevitably led the jury to conclude that Ayala was personally affiliated with the Mexican Mafia. The questions about “Northern” and “Southern” groups occupied a relatively small part of Rafa’s testimony, neither Rafa nor counsel used the words “gang,” “EME,” or “Mexican Mafia,” and from our review of the record it is not clear that the jury would have equated these prison groups with the street gangs that had received notoriety in southern California at the time of the trial. In this sense, defense counsel’s “no'-gang” strategy may have partially survived Rafa’s testimony. More importantly, counsel did not make their decision regarding Savocchio in a vacuum but instead had to gauge the likely value to be gained from Savocchio’s testimony. Even after Rafa recanted, there were several reasons to think that Savoc-chio’s testimony might have been more harmful than helpful: (1) Savocchio did not have a close relationship with Meza before Meza allegedly admitted to him that he was testifying falsely against Ayala, and it is unclear why Meza would have chosen to confide in Savocchio; (2) Savocchio’s testimony that he knew almost nothing about prison gangs despite spending most of his life in prison may have appeared unbelievable; (3) Savocchio had a number of prior convictions; and (4) Savocchio admitted that he lied to prison officials to get transferred to another prison. For these reasons, defense counsel had good reason to question whether the jury would have believed Savocchio and thus whether Savoc-chio’s testimony would have effectively impeached Meza. And calling Savocchio to testify entailed the certain, if unquantifiable, risk that the prosecutor’s cross-examination would concretely link Ayala to the Mexican Mafia. We have held that when “the risks associated with calling [certain witnesses] to testify outweighed the potential benefits ... it is reasonable to conclude that counsel wasn’t ineffective in failing to call” those witnesses. Zapien v. Martel, 805 F.3d 862, 870 (9th Cir. 2015). The California Supreme Court denied this claim because it reasoned that defense counsel believed their “victory regarding mention of gangs” was intact even after Rafa recanted. See Ayala, 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d at 33. We agree that defense’s “no-gang” plan was probably preserved to some degree, but we also acknowledge that Rafa’s recantation left the defense scrambling. Outside of the jury’s presence, defense counsel sought a continuance because Rafa’s changed testimony altered “the entire complexion of the case.” But the defense ultimately elected not to abandon the “no-gang” strategy and we cannot find statements in the state court record in which counsel or the court acknowledged that Rafa’s testimony revealed Ayala’s gang affiliation to the jury. We owe considerable deference to the California Supreme Court under the standards dictated by AEDPA, see Glebe, 135 S.Ct. at 430, and the California Supreme Court owed considerable deference to defense counsel under the standards dictated by Strickland, see Harrington, 562 U.S. at 105, 131 S.Ct. 770. There is room for fair-minded jurists to disagree about whether defense counsels’ decision not to call Sa-vocchio to testify fell below an objectively reasonable standard of care. See id. at 103, 131 S.Ct. 770. More to the point, even if we agreed with the district court that the California court’s analysis of Savocchio’s testimony was internally inconsistent and therefore unreasonable under AEDPA, we also agree with the district court that, reviewed de novo, this claim does not entitle Ayala to relief. On de novo review we consider evidence the parties elicited at the 2010 evidentiary hearing. See Crittenden, 804 F.3d at 1010. This evidence substantially undermines Ayala’s Savocchio-based IAC claim. In 2010, Savocchio admitted that he did owe a debt to someone affiliated with the Mexican Mafia around the time of Ayala’s trial. Savocchio testified at the evi-dentiary hearing that he embellished the details of his connection to the Mexican Mafia in the 1980s to secure the transfer to another prison, but he denied that he wholly invented his fear of the gang. It is impossible to know which version of history Savocchio would have told if defense counsel had called him to testify at trial, but if Savocchio told the jury that his fear of the Mexican Mafia was real — which is what he said during the 2010 hearing — the prosecutor surely would have asked whether this fear motivated him to testify on Ayala’s behalf. Even after Rafa recanted, this line of questioning would have damaged Ayala in two ways: (1) the jury would have had another reason to disbelieve Sa-vocchio; and (2) it would have crystalized the impression that Ayala was a dangerous gang member thereby suggesting guilt by association. Defense counsel also testified at the 2010 hearing. Lead counsel confirmed that she initially chose not to call Savocchio because she was unsure whether his testimony would open the door to damaging gang affiliation evidence: [T]he judge made it clear that if Mr. Savocchio testified he was going to allow impeachment with regard to the EME issue; in other words, whatever relationship Mr. Savocchio had or didn’t, whether real or something he had made up, about the EME, and that it was going to open the door in a specific way to the gang issue that we had been attempting to keep out of the case. Lead counsel explained that she reviewed Savocchio’s prison file with him before the 1988 in limine hearing, and although she lacked specific recollection of her pre-trial meeting with Savocchio, she surmised that she was aware of his debt to someone connected with the Mexican Mafia. Counsel acknowledged at the 2010 hearing that she would have pursued a different trial strategy if she had known Rafa was going to recant. But as we have observed, counsel could not have known this would happen; indeed, Rafa’s recantation was a devastating development for the defense because it came so late in the trial and counsel built their defense on a “no-gang” strategy. From the outset, the defense team prepared with the aim of keeping evidence of Ayala’s gang affiliation from the jury. This meant that the defense team did not extensively voir dire the jury on their attitudes about gangs because they did not want to suggest that the 43rd Street murders were gang related. It also meant the defense did not present expert testimony to explain the distinction between prison gangs and street gangs, or that Ayala’s gang was different from those that terrorized southern California in the mid-1980s. After Rafa recanted, the defense requested and received a continuance to regroup. It considered abandoning its “no-gang” strategy, but it had no voire dire record from which to predict how the jury would react and no expert testimony that might have allowed it to contextualize Ayala’s participation in the Mexican Mafia. Worse, shifting strategies would have forced counsel to admit to the jury that the defense withheld key facts about Ayala’s gang-involvement. Ayala does not explain how defense counsel could have completed such a maneuver without ruining her credibility with the jury, and Ayala’s own Strickland expert acknowledged that “[t]he credibility of counsel during all phases of a trial ... is absolutely crucial.” In sum, we agree with the district court that the initial decision not to present Sa-vocchio’s testimony did not fall below an objective standard of reasonableness. See Bemore, 788 F.3d at 1163 (“[A] tactical decision may constitute constitutionally adequate representation even if, in hindsight, a different defense might have fared better”). We also agree with the district court’s analysis of counsel’s decision not to reopen the defense case after Rafa testified. In light of the risks and difficulties presented by pivoting away from a “no-gang” strategy, the decision not to make such a dramatic transition did not fall below an objectively reasonable standard of care. Indeed, a holding to the contrary would be the type of “Monday morning quarterbacking” Strickland prohibits. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052 (reviewing courts must “eliminate the distorting effects of hindsight”). Habeas relief is not warranted on this claim. C. Counsel’s decision not to call “other witnesses” Ayala also argues that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to impeach: (1) Meza by calling inmate Raul Garcia to testify that Meza admitted to knowing nothing about the 43rd Street murders; and (2) Castillo, with evidence that he solicited Juan Mendez (and possibly Luis “Bobo” Garcia) to kill victim Zamora in the months before the murders. Ayala did not name these “other witnesses” in his Exhaustion Petition or in the declarations he filed with the California Supreme Court. There, he alleged only that counsel was ineffective for failing to impeach Meza with evidence that he “had confessed to numerous witnesses, including Richard Sovacchio [sic] among many others — known to Petitioner’s counsel” that he had no idea wither Petitioner had actually participated in the 43rd street murders. Similarly, Ayala’s Exhaustion Petition and the supporting declarations alleged only that counsel was ineffective for failing to impeach Castillo with evidence that he “had, prior to the murders, solicited two different witnesses to kill victim Zamora.” Under Pinholster, we review these IAC claims as Ayala presented them to the California Supreme Court. 563 U.S. at 187 n.11, 131 S.Ct. 1388 (“Even if the evidence adduced in the District Court additionally supports [a claim presented to the state court], we are precluded from considering it.”). Therefore, we do not consider evidence that specific individuals— including Raul Garcia, Mendez, and Luis Garcia — were willing to testify on Ayala’s behalf in 1988. See id. at 181, 131 S.Ct. 1388 (“[R]eview under § 2254(d)(1) is limited to the record that was before the state court that adjudicated the claim on the merits.”). The California Supreme Court did not unreasonably deny Ayala’s IAC claims as they relate to “other witnesses.” Ayala did not allege in the California court that counsel could have presented the testimony of these witnesses without wrecking their “no-gang” defense plan. To the contrary, Ayala admitted in his Exhaustion Petition that counsel chose not to call these witnesses because counsel believed the witnesses were gang-affiliated. Just as we conclude that counsel’s decision to insulate the jury from mention of the Mexican Mafia was “sound trial strategy,” Strickland, 466 U.S. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052, we conclude that decisions counsel made to implement this strategy, like declining to call gang-affiliated witnesses, were likewise reasonably strategic. Id. “[Strategic choices made after thorough investigation of law and facts relevant to plausible options are virtually unchallengeable” under Strickland. Id. at 690, 104 S.Ct. 2052. The California Supreme Court’s denial of these claims was not an unreasonable application of Strickland. Ayala also argues that defense counsel failed to independently investigate the gang affiliation of numerous witnesses before deciding not to call them. He claims defense counsel entered “into an agreement with the prosecution, whereby counsel provided to the prosecution the names of [Ayala’s] prospective witnesses, and would agree not to call certain witnesses upon receiving any representation or threat from the prosecution of possible gang-related affiliations relating to that witness.” Ayala correctly argues that “counsel has a duty to make reasonable investigations or to make a reasonable decision that makes particular investigations unnecessary.” Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. 510, 521, 123 S.Ct. 2527, 156 L.Ed.2d 471 (2003) (quoting Strickland, 466 U.S. at 690-91, 104 S.Ct. 2052). But the record before the state court does not support Ayala’s claim that his lawyers abdicated this duty. Instead, it shows that counsel located potential witnesses and sought access to their prison files before deciding whether to call them to testify. For example, counsel reviewed Savocchio’s prison file before he testified at the in limine hearing. And counsel stated during pretrial hearings that she subpoenaed “department of corrections’ files” for key witnesses in part to learn whether those witnesses were gang-affiliated. The trial court ordered the State to turn over “[a]ll notes , or memoranda, handwritten or typed; by an investigating officer, peace officer, or deputy district attorney of their conversations with any witnesses which is relevant to said witnesses]’ credibility,” and one of the district attorneys confirmed that her office delivered this discovery, including requested prison files, to the defense team. Because of these efforts by defense counsel, Ayala’s case is unlike Thomas v. Chappell, a pre-AEDPA case where we granted relief because the defense “conducted no investigation for supporting witnesses or corroborating evidence outside” the community in which the murder took place (and in which petitioner lived), despite sworn testimony that the victims and another suspect came from a different community. 678 F.3d 1086, 1096 (9th Cir. 2012); see also id. at 1104 (counsel’s “failure to call [the witness] cannot be excused as a tactical decision because [counsel] did not have sufficient information with which to make an informed decision”). Ayala’s defense team opted against calling some potential witnesses; it did not overlook them. To the extent Ayala argues that his lawyers performed deficiently because they relied to some degree on the prosecution’s information about potential witnesses, that argument is also without merit. Defense counsel was concerned not only with what prospective witnesses’ prison files showed, but also with Detective Chacon’s knowledge of witnesses’ affiliations that might surface on cross-examination. Counsel were keenly aware of Detective Chacon’s involvement in this prosecution; they knew he was a gang intelligence officer who had kept tabs on several of the prospective witnesses for years before Ayala’s trial, and they suspected that Chacon’s awareness of potential witnesses’ gang affiliations far outstripped the information contained in their prison files. If the prosecution had information tying a prospective witness to gangs, from any source, calling the witness to testify might have opened the door for the State to impeach the witness with evidence of gang-driven bias. For this reason, there is ample room for fair-minded disagreement about whether consulting with the prosecution before calling prospective impeachment witnesses was an “error[] so serious that counsel was not functioning as the ‘counsel’ guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment.” Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052; see also Harrington, 562 U.S. at 103, 131 S.Ct. 770 (discussing AEDPA deference). The California court reasonably rejected Ayala’s failure-to-investigate claim. But even if we reviewed this claim de novo, Ayala would not be eligible for relief. Defense counsel confirmed during the 2010 evidentiary hearing that she purposely chose not to call many witnesses, including Raul Garcia and Mendez, because those witnesses were or had been gang affiliated. Exhibits Ayala introduced at the 2010 hearing show that counsel investigated these witnesses to evaluate potential exposure to harmful gang affiliation evidence. For example, Ayala submitted defense counsel’s pre-trial notes in which she described her impressions of Raul Garcia: “Claims he was approached by Meza to make up a story about the killings. He knows Ronnie well. My reading between the lines is that this is possible B.S. and he is very impeachable re relationship with Ronnie.” Cf. Cannedy v. Adams, 706 F.3d 1148, 1160-61 (9th Cir. 2013) (granting relief when uncontradicted evidence showed that trial counsel failed to interview a key witness). Ayala also introduced notes from defense counsel’s pretrial interviews with Juan Mendez in which she wrote that Mendez “ha[d] been reported in his prison file [as] ... EME affiliated,” that Mendez knew Ayala from the prison gang, and that Mendez had done favors for the gang during his time in prison. These notes show that trial counsel’s decision not to call “numerous witnesses” was consistent with her trial strategy. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Relief under Strickland is not available. Finally, Ayala asks us to stay his federal proceedings so he can seek reconsideration of his IAC claims in the California Supreme Court. See Gonzalez v. Wong, 667 F.3d 965, 980 (9th Cir. 2011) (staying federal case to give petitioner the opportunity to present to the state court evidence first adduced in federal court). In particular, Ayala seeks the chance to submit in state court evidence he first presented in the federal proceedings, including evidence that Juan Mendez, Raul Garcia, and Luis Garcia were willing to testify on Ayala’s behalf in 1988. But the district court held an extended evidentiary hearing on Ayala’s IAC claims, and its lengthy and well-reasoned order concluded that Ayala’s petition failed even in light of this newly presented evidence. See Ayala v. Chappell, No. 01CV0741-BTM, 2013 WL 1315127 (S.D. Cal. Mar. 28, 2013). We agree with the district court that the 2010 evidence does not strengthen Ayala’s IAC claims, and we decline Ayala’s invitation to stay his federal case. D. The state court’s fact-finding process Ayala argues that de novo review of his Strickland claims is warranted because the state court’s fact-finding process was deficient. He requested an evidentiary hearing in his initial state habeas corpus petition, which the California Supreme Court summarily denied in June 2000, and in his Exhaustion Petition, which the California Supreme Court summarily denied in September 2003. Ayala raised his IAC claims in both state court petitions, and he now argues that it was unreasonable for the California Supreme Court to resolve these claims without first granting him an evi-dentiary hearing. We disagree. We have recognized that a state court’s decision may be based on an “unreasonable determination of the facts,” 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2), if “the [fact-finding] process employed by the state court [was] defective,” Taylor v. Maddox, 366 F.3d 992, 999 (9th Cir. 2004); see also Woods, 764 F.3d at 1128. “To find the state court’s [fact-finding] process defective ... ‘we must more than merely doubt whether the process operated properly. Rather, we must be satisfied that any appellate court to whom the defect is pointed out would be unreasonable in holding that the state court’s fact-finding process was adequate.’ ” Hurles, 752 F.3d at 778 (citation omitted). A state court’s denial of a petitioner’s request for an evidentiary hearing does not necessarily render its fact-finding procedure defective. Woods, 764 F.3d at 1128 (concluding that it “was not unreasonable for the Washington Supreme Court to deny Woods’s request for a[n evidentiary] hearing”); see also Harrington, 562 U.S. at 97, 131 S.Ct. 770 (denying relief on an IAC claim where the California Supreme Court did not grant petitioner an evidentiary hearing). Turning first to Ayala’s Savocchio-based IAC claim, we have no trouble concluding that the Calif