Gary T. McKinley v. Carlos D. Bivens and the Attorney General of the State of Maryland

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Maryland denied a self-represented petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The court held that the ineffective-assistance claim was procedurally defaulted and that the challenge to the voluntariness and knowing nature of the petitioner's Alford plea lacked merit.

Holdings

1. McKinley procedurally defaulted his claim that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to explain the elements of the charges because he did not fairly present that claim to the Maryland courts.
2. The actual-innocence gateway did not excuse the procedural default because McKinley offered no new reliable evidence and a request for DNA testing did not show that no reasonable juror would have convicted him.
3. McKinley’s Alford plea was knowing and voluntary because the plea record, including his acknowledgment that he reviewed the indictment, the State’s evidence, and available defenses with counsel, supported the conclusion that he understood the nature and elements of the charges.
4. McKinley failed to establish ineffective assistance because he did not show deficient performance or a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s alleged error, he would have rejected the plea and gone to trial.

Questions Presented

1. Whether McKinley’s ineffective-assistance claim based on counsel’s alleged failure to explain the elements of second-degree murder was procedurally defaulted.
2. Whether the actual-innocence gateway excused the procedural default where McKinley sought DNA testing but identified no new evidence showing that no reasonable juror would have convicted him.
3. Whether McKinley’s Alford plea was constitutionally invalid because the plea record allegedly failed to establish that he understood the nature and elements of the charges.
4. Whether counsel was ineffective under Strickland and Hill v. Lockhart for allegedly failing to explain the elements of the offenses before the plea.