Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-3_10-cv-08134/USCOURTS-azd-3_10-cv-08134-3/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 530
Nature of Suit: Prisoner Petitions - Habeas Corpus
Cause of Action: 28:2254 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (State)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Steven James Eaton, 

Plaintiff, 

vs.

Charles L. Ryan, et al., 

Defendant. 

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No. CV-10-8134-PHX-GMS (DKD)

ORDER

Pending before this Court is the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, filed by Petitioner

Steven James Eaton. (Doc. 1). On January 25, 2011, Magistrate Judge David K. Duncan

issued a Report and Recommendation (“R & R”) in which he recommended that the Court

deny the Petition and dismiss it with prejudice. (Doc. 10). Petitioner filed an objection to the

R & R (Doc. 11). For the reasons stated herein, the Court accepts the R & R and denies the

petition.

On July 26, 2010, Petitioner timely filed a writ of habeas corpus, raising one claim for

relief–that he was denied his right to appeal. (Doc. 1). In his R & R, Judge Duncan denied

Petitioner’s claim for relief, providing the following two reasons: (1) that Petitioner had not

adequately raised the constitutional claim in state court and (2) that his claim is procedurally

defaulted for failure to “observe” state filing deadlines and he has failed to establish cause

and actual prejudice to excuse the default. (Doc. 10). Petitioner timely filed an objection to

Judge Duncan’s R & R, which is set forth in its entirety below:

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 On June 2, 2009, the day the state courted entered Petitioner’s sentence, Petitioner

received a “Notice of Rights of Review After Conviction”, which clearly states that he was

required to “file a Notice of Post-Conviction Relief (Form XXIV(c)) within 90 days of the

entry of Judgment and Sentence.” (Doc. 8, Ex. F). On April 1, 2010, Petitioner filed a Motion

to Vacate the court’s dismissal of his March 5, 2010 “Notice of Rule 32”. (Id., Ex. I). In that

Motion, Petitioner stated that he gave prison officials his original notice on February 9, 2009,

several months before he was actually convicted. The superior court interpreted that

statement to mean that he had submitted the notice to prison officials on February 9, 2010,

and concluded that his notice was untimely. (Id., Ex. J). Although in his “Petition for

Review” filed in the Arizona Court of Appeals Petitioner asserted that he delivered his notice

to prison officials within the 90 days of his sentencing (id.. Ex. K), Judge Duncan was

persuaded that Eaton’s original assertion that he submitted the notice on February 9, 2010,

was likely accurate. (Doc. 10). Petitioner did not object to Judge Duncan’s finding. 

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State v. Pruett 912 P.2d 1357 (1995) Holds people like me who plead guilty appeal

by filing a Rule 32.

Mayers v. Arizona 908 P.2d 56 (1992) Holds prisoners file a pleading when they give

this to prison officials.

Pruett states appeal is guaranteed by 14th Amendment. In my Petition for Review I

made this argument. As such habeas relief should be granted.

(Doc. 11). 

Even if the Court accepts Petitioner’s argument that he “fairly presented” the federal

claim to the state court, see Duncan v. Henry, 513 U.S. 364, 365 (1995), Eaton has not

objected to Judge Duncan’s determination that his claim “is procedurally barred on

independent and adequate state grounds” because he failed to timely file his notice of postconviction relief and his petition for review. (Doc. 10).1

 When a claim is procedurally barred,

a petitioner is required to demonstrate cause for the procedural default and actual prejudice.

Gray v. Netherland, 518 U.S. 152, 162 (1996) (“[T]he procedural bar that gives rise to

exhaustion provides an independent and adequate state-law ground for the conviction and

sentence, and thus prevents federal habeas corpus review of the defaulted claim, unless the

petitioner can demonstrate cause and prejudice for the default.”). 

In the R & R, Judge Duncan concluded that Petitioner had not established cause and

actual prejudice because Eaton’s explanation for the untimely filing was “that he delivered

his notice to prison officials on February 9, more than eight months after sentencing, and

therefore well past the 90-day deadline.” (Doc. 10). In other words, even if the prison

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officials did in fact fail to deliver his notice, Eaton has not established cause because he did

not provide that notice to the officials until approximately six months after the filing

deadline. See Murray v. Carrier, 477 U.S. 478, 488 (1986) (Cause is established if a

petitioner “can show that some objective factor external to the defense impeded counsel’s

efforts to comply with the State’s procedural rule.”). The Court agrees. Furthermore,

Petitioner has not objected to Judge Duncan’s determination that he failed to establish cause

and prejudice for his procedural default, and therefore, the Court need not review Petitioner’s

sole claim for relief. 

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED:

1. Magistrate Judge Duncan’s R & R (Doc. 10) is ACCEPTED.

2. Petitioner’s Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (Doc. 1) is DISMISSED.

3. The Clerk of the Court shall TERMINATE this action.

4. Pursuant to Rule 11(a) of the Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases, in the event

Petitioner files an appeal, the Court declines to issue a certificate of appealability because

reasonable jurists would not find the Court’s procedural ruling debatable. See Slack v.

McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000). 

DATED this 8th day of June, 2011.

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