Terrance L. King v. Ryan Thornell, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Arizona adopted a magistrate judge’s Report and Recommendation and denied Terrance L. King’s federal habeas petition with prejudice. The court held that King’s ineffective-assistance claim under State v. Donald was procedurally defaulted because he did not fairly present the claim to the Arizona Court of Appeals, and it denied a certificate of appealability.

Holdings

1. King's federal habeas claim was procedurally defaulted because he did not fairly present the operative facts or legal theory of his State v. Donald claim to the Arizona Court of Appeals.
2. The district court was required to review de novo only those portions of the magistrate judge's recommendation to which King made specific objections, and King's failure to address the central procedural-default finding warranted overruling his objection and adopting the recommendation.
3. A certificate of appealability was denied because the petition's dismissal rested on a plain procedural bar and reasonable jurists would not find the procedural ruling debatable.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the district court should reject the magistrate judge's recommendation that King's federal habeas claim was procedurally defaulted.
2. Whether King adequately objected to the finding that he failed to fairly present his State v. Donald claim to the Arizona Court of Appeals.
3. Whether a certificate of appealability should issue.

Disposition

dismissed