discussed Cited "see" Osumi v. Giurbino See Van Buskirk v. Baldwin, 265 F.3d 1080, 1083 (9th Cir.2001) (Court may properly deny petition on merits rather than reaching “the complex questions lurking in the time bar of the AEDPA.”), cert. denied, 535 U.S. 950 , 122 S.Ct. 1347 , 152 L.Ed.2d 250 (2002); Cooper v. Calderon, 274 F.3d 1270 , 1275 n. 3 (9th Cir.2001) (per curiam) (denying petition on merits rather than remanding to consider equitable tolling), ce rt. denied, 538 U.S. 984 , 123 S.Ct. 1793 , 155 L.Ed.2d 677 (2003).