Olabamidele Olumide Bewaji v. Jed Falgreen

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Minnesota accepted a magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation and denied Olabamidele Olumide Bewaji's amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The court concluded that Bewaji had not exhausted his state court remedies, overruled his objections, denied his in forma pauperis applications as moot, and declined to issue a certificate of appealability.

Holdings

1. Objections that merely repeat underlying arguments and do not specifically challenge the report and recommendation are not entitled to de novo review; the challenged analysis is reviewed for clear error.
2. Using objections to a report and recommendation to add factual allegations or a new constitutional claim is procedurally improper.
3. A § 2254 habeas petition must be denied when the petitioner has not exhausted available state remedies for the claim presented.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the magistrate judge's recommendation should be accepted when the petitioner's objections were nonspecific and did not address the exhaustion analysis.
2. Whether the amended § 2254 petition should be denied because the petitioner failed to exhaust available state remedies.
3. Whether the petitioner could use objections to the report and recommendation to add new factual allegations and a new constitutional privacy claim.

Disposition

denied