Lewis v. Cain

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit F I L E D IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS July 17, 2006 FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT _____________________ Charles R. Fulbruge III Clerk No. 04-30648 _____________________ LIONEL E. LEWIS, Petitioner - Appellant, versus BURL CAIN, WARDEN, LOUISIANA STATE PENITENTIARY, Respondent - Appellee. _________________________________________________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana USDC No. 2:03-CV-1067 _________________________________________________________________ Before JOLLY, PRADO, and OWEN, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* This appeal of the District Court’s denial of habeas corpus was limited to the issue of whether the state prosecutor substantially interfered with petitioner’s right to call a confidential informant as a defense witness. Petitioner failed to present this claim properly to the state court. Failure to exhaust state remedies bars federal habeas relief. Whitehead v. Johnson, 157 F.3d 384, 387 (5th Cir. 1998). Therefore, the judgment of the District Court is AFFIRMED. * Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.