James L. Scott v. Joseph P. Class

United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT ___________ No. 96-1937 ___________ James L. Scott, a/k/a * James L. Smith, * * Appellant, * * v. * Appeal from the United States * District Court for the Joseph Class, * District of South Dakota. * Appellee. * [UNPUBLISHED] * * ___________ Submitted: March 12, 1997 Filed: May 30, 1997 ___________ Before MAGILL,1 MURPHY, Circuit Judges, and GOLDBERG,2 Judge. ___________ PER CURIAM. 1 The Honorable Frank J. Magill, was an active judge at the time that this case was submitted and assumed senior status on April 1, 1997, before the opinion was filed. 2 The Honorable Richard W. Goldberg, Judge, United States Court of International Trade, sitting by designation. James L. Scott appeals the district court’s order dismissing his petition for habeas corpus. Having reviewed the record and the parties’ briefs, we conclude that Scott is not entitled to relief. The record demonstrates that Scott procedurally defaulted on his claim of insufficiency of the evidence and his claim of violation of due process due to the trial court’s denial of his motion for severance. He defaulted on these claims because he failed to raise them in his state court post-conviction proceedings. Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U.S. 722, 750 (1991). Furthermore, with respect to Scott’s various other due process claims, the record demonstrates that the district court correctly ruled that Scott was not denied due process of law in his jury trial. Finally, we find that the district court correctly determined that Scott is barred from raising his probable cause claim in a federal habeas corpus proceeding under Stone v. Powell, 428 U.S. 465 (1976). Because an extensive discussion of Scott’s fact-specific arguments is not warranted, we affirm the district court without a comprehensive opinion. See 8th Cir. R. 47B. A true copy. Attest: CLERK, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT. -2-