Opinion ID: 181013
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Certificate of Appealability was Properly Denied Due to Default

Text: Before a habeas petitioner may appeal to this court, the district court must consider whether to grant the petitioner a Certificate of Appealability (COA). 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c); Fed. R.App. P. 22(b). The district court may issue a COA only if the applicant has made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. Arredondo v. Huibregtse, 542 F.3d 1155, 1165 (7th Cir.2008). Promotor requested a COA on his ineffective assistance of counsel claims, which was denied. He asks that we expand the COA to address these claims. The district court denied Promotor's COA because it found that he defaulted this claim by failing to fully and fairly present it to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Indeed, Promotor failed to make any specific argument on the topic, and instead simply attached the Wisconsin Court of Appeals' decision discussing ineffective assistance of counsel. The district court could have resurrected Promotor's procedurally defaulted claim if it found cause and prejudice. But the court did not so find, and held that Promotor does not establish that application of the procedural default exception is warranted and this court's finding of procedural default is not reasonably debatable. Promotor v. Pollard, No. 07-CV-363, 2009 WL 1373935, at  (E.D.Wis. May 15, 2009). We agree with the district court. To obtain federal habeas review, a state prisoner must first submit his claims through state review. Johnson v. Hulett, 574 F.3d 428, 431 (7th Cir.2009). To satisfy this requirement, Promotor must have fairly presented the substance of his claims to the state courts by articulating both the operative facts and applicable law that entitles him to relief. Id. Appending a prior court's decision without developing an independent position does not allow meaningful review of the substance of the claims. Promotor's decision to even attempt this strategy is puzzling since at the state appellate level he lost his ineffective assistance of counsel claim on the merits. And because Promotor was not proceeding pro se, this decision is inexcusable. We decline to expand Promotor's COA.