Cravens v. Bayer
Cravens v. Bayer
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM
Thomas Cravens (“Cravens”) appeals the district court’s order dismissing his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. We review de novo the district court’s judgment that Cravens had “procedurally defaulted” his claims, and that he failed to demonstrate “cause and prejudice” for the default. See Washington v. Cambra, 208 F.3d 832, 833 (9th Cir. 2000). We affirm.
On this appeal, we consider only whether Cravens procedurally defaulted on his claims that the government violated his right to due process by mishandling and withholding exculpatory evidence at trial. As a preliminary matter, we note that Cravens’s state habeas petition and Opening Brief to the Nevada Supreme Court put that court on notice of the federal claims now before this panel. Cravens, thus, exhausted his state remedies with respect to these claims and we may properly consider his petition. See Picard v. Connor, 404 U.S. 270, 276, 92 S.Ct. 509, 30 L.Ed.2d 438 (1971) (requiring “state prisoner to present the state courts with the same claim he urges upon the federal courts”); Shumway v. Payne, 223 F.3d 982, 987 (9th Cir. 2000).
Though Cravens’s claims are properly before us, we cannot review them because
Section 34.810(b)(l)(2) constitutes an “independent” ground for the Nevada Supreme Court’s decision because the rule is not “interwoven” with federal law — that is, the court did not rely on “any aspect of federal procedural or substantive law” in denying Cravens’s federal claims. Zichko, 247 F.3d at 1021. In addition, N.R.S. 34.810(b)(1)(2) provided an “adequate” ground for the state court decision because the rule was “clear, consistently applied, and well-established at the time of petitioner’s purported default.”
Our decision in McKenna v. McDaniel, 65 F.3d 1483 (9th Cir. 1995), does not compel a contrary conclusion. In McKenna, we considered a substantially similar procedural bar, N.R.S. 177.375
We might still have considered the merits of Cravens’s claims despite the procedural default, but he fails to provide any showing of the “cause for the default and prejudice attributable thereto.” Harris v. Reed, 489 U.S. 255, 262, 109 S.Ct. 1038, 103 L.Ed.2d 308 (1989).
AFFIRMED.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and may not be cited to or by the courts of this circuit except as may be provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
. See, e.g., Standley v. Warden, 115 Nev. 333, 990 P.2d 783, 785 n. 3 (Nev. 1999) (per curiam); Davis v. State, 115 Nev. 17, 974 P.2d 658, 660 (Nev. 1999) (per curiam); Kirksey v. State, 112 Nev. 980, 923 P.2d 1102, 1114 n. 10 (Nev. 1996) (per curiam); Marshall v. State, 110 Nev. 1328, 885 P.2d 603, 605 n. 1 (1994) (per curiam); Franklin v. State, 110 Nev. 750, 877 P.2d 1058, 1059 (Nev. 1994) (per curiam).
. Under N.R.S. 177.375, "a claim that could have been raised on direct appeal from a judgment of conviction, but was not, is considered waived for purposes of a subsequent proceeding for post-conviction relief.” Bolden v. State, 99 Nev. 181, 659 P.2d 886, 887 (Nev. 1983) (per curiam). This section was repealed on January 1, 1993.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Thomas Howard CRAVENS v. Robert BAYER Frankie Sue Del Papa Attorney General, State of Nevada
- Status
- Published