F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
OCT 12 2001
TENTH CIRCUIT
PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
BOBBY DON WARDEN,
Petitioner - Appellant,
vs. No. 01-6122
(D.C. No. CIV-00-1393-T)
JAMES L. SAFFLE, Warden; (W.D. Okla.)
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE
STATE OF OKLAHOMA,
Respondents - Appellees.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before EBEL, KELLY, and LUCERO, Circuit Judges. **
Petitioner Bobby Don Warden, an inmate appearing pro se, seeks a
certificate of appealability (“COA”) allowing him to appeal the district court’s
order denying relief on his habeas petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. We
have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 2253(a). Because Mr.
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the
doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. This court
generally disfavors the citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order
and judgment may be cited under the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
**
After examining the briefs and the appellate record, this three-judge
panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not be of material
assistance in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a); 10th
Cir. R. 34.1(G). The cause is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
Warden has failed to make a “substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional
right” as required by 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2), we dismiss the appeal.
Mr. Warden was convicted of unlawful distribution of methamphetamine
after former conviction of a felony and sentenced to forty years imprisonment and
directed to pay a $20,000 fine. His conviction and sentence were affirmed on
direct appeal. He then sought state post-conviction relief. The state district court
denied relief, and that denial was affirmed on appeal.
In his federal petition, Mr. Warden raised four issues: (1) ineffective
assistance of trial counsel, (2) ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal,
(3) denial of confrontation rights as to an informant (Mr. Bearden), and (4)
improper sentence enhancement. Aplt. Br. at Ex. A. Mr. Warden’s two claims of
ineffective assistance of counsel can each be further broken down into (a) failure
to call witnesses at trial or to appeal that failure, (b) failure to raise the
confrontation issue, and (c) failure to raise the denial of his Sixth Amendment
right to compulsory process. Id.
We have reviewed the record. As to those claims resolved on the merits by
the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) either on direct appeal or on
post-conviction appeal, Mr. Warden has not demonstrated that the state court’s
decision was “contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly
established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United
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States.” 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d); Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 404
(2000)(opinion of O’Connor, J). Those claims include ineffective assistance of
trial or appellate counsel based upon a failure to call witnesses, denial of the right
to confront the informant, and the ostensible denial of Mr. Warden’s Sixth
Amendment right to compulsory process. We agree with the conclusions of the
magistrate judge and the district court that Mr. Warden has not demonstrated
deficient performance or prejudice based on these claimed omissions, or any
others discussed by the magistrate judge and the district court. We note that the
statement of the magistrate judge that Mr. Warden was required to “show that no
reasonable trier of fact would have found him guilty if they would have heard the
testimony of the omitted witnesses,” R. Doc. 15 at 6, is incorrect; Mr. Warden
need only demonstrate a reasonable probability that the outcome of the
proceeding would be different. See Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 686, 687,
697 (1984). Mr. Warden has not made such a showing of prejudice, however.
We also agree with the magistrate judge and the district court that Mr.
Warden’s remaining claims are procedurally barred because they could have been
raised upon direct appeal, but were not. These claims include: (1)(b) ineffective
assistance of trial counsel based on counsel’s failure to raise a denial of
confrontation, (1)(c) trial counsel’s denial of Mr. Warden’s Sixth Amendment
right to compulsory process, (3) denial of confrontation, and (4) improper
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enhancement of sentence. The OCCA held that all of these issues could have
been raised during Mr. Warden’s direct appeal and were, therefore, procedurally
barred from review in his post-conviction proceedings. The general rule is that
this court “does not address issues that have been defaulted in state court on an
independent and adequate state procedural ground, unless the petitioner can
demonstrate cause and prejudice or a fundamental miscarriage of justice.”
English v. Cody, 146 F.3d 1257, 1259 (10th Cir. 1998). There is an exception to
the general rule for claims of ineffective assistance of counsel barred by state
procedural grounds unless the defendant “had different attorneys at trial and on
direct appeal and his ineffective assistance claim could have been reviewed from
the trial record alone.” James v. Gibson, 211 F.3d 543, 556 (10th Cir. 2000). In
this case, Mr. Warden did have different counsel at trial and on direct appeal, and
Mr. Warden’s ineffective assistance of counsel at trial claims could have been
reviewed from the trial record alone. The standard for all of the procedurally
barred claims is, therefore, “cause and prejudice” or “fundamental miscarriage of
justice.” English, 146 F.3d at 1259. We agree with the magistrate judge and
district court that Mr. Warden has not met either of these standards as to any of
the barred claims for substantially the same reasons set forth in the magistrate
judge’s report and recommendation. Doc. 15 at 13-21(cause and prejudice); Doc.
15 at 21 (fundamental miscarriage of justice).
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We DENY Mr. Warden’s requests for a COA and IFP and DISMISS this
appeal.
Entered for the Court
Paul J. Kelly, Jr.
Circuit Judge
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