Curtis D. Richardson, a/k/a Curtis Dale Richardson, a/k/a Curtis Richardson, #269166, a/k/a Curtis Richardson, #28507-171 v. Warden of Tyger River Correctional Institution

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina adopts a magistrate judge’s recommendation and dismisses Curtis D. Richardson’s 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition without prejudice. The court holds that Richardson failed to exhaust state remedies because his state post-conviction relief application remained pending, overrules his objections, and denies a certificate of appealability.

Holdings

1. A state prisoner must exhaust available state court remedies before seeking federal habeas relief, and petitioner had not satisfied that requirement because his state PCR proceeding remained pending and appellate review of the PCR decision had not occurred.
2. The objection was insufficient because it did not specifically challenge the magistrate judge's conclusion that petitioner had failed to exhaust state remedies.
3. A certificate of appealability was denied because petitioner failed to make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the § 2254 petition should be dismissed because petitioner had not exhausted available state court remedies.
2. Whether petitioner's handwritten objection specifically challenged the magistrate judge's exhaustion determination.
3. Whether petitioner was entitled to a certificate of appealability.

Disposition

dismissed