Opinion ID: 759696
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Bloomer's Second Habeas Petition

Text: 17 On November 9, 1995 after Birbal had been decided, Bloomer again moved for habeas relief under § 2255. He filed this petition pro se, contending that the jury instructions denied him due process, violated his Sixth Amendment right to a jury verdict of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and, because his attorney failed to object to such instructions, that he had been denied the effective assistance of counsel. 18 The habeas application was referred to Magistrate Judge Jerome J. Niedermeier, who recommended it be denied on the grounds that petitioner had abused the writ by filing a second § 2255 motion raising claims not earlier presented in his first motion for such relief, and that petitioner had procedurally defaulted on the points raised in his second application by not raising them at trial, on appeal, or in his first petition. The magistrate judge additionally ruled that petitioner could not succeed in his ineffective assistance of counsel claim because he could not establish the requisite prejudice resulting from his attorney's representation. Chief Judge J. Garvan Murtha adopted this report and recommendation, and, in an order entered on June 19, 1996 affirmed the magistrate judge's denial of petitioner's request for habeas relief. 19 Bloomer filed a notice of appeal, and moved this court for a certificate of appealability--a certificate that the district court had declined to issue--pursuant to the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA). On February 26, 1997 we issued a certificate of appealability for the limited purpose of deciding his ineffective assistance claim. On January 12, 1998 we issued an order clarifying that, pursuant to Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320, 117 S.Ct. 2059, 2067-68, 138 L.Ed.2d 481 (1997), and United States v. Perez, 129 F.3d 255, 260 (2d Cir.1997), petitioner did not need a certificate of appealability to raise issues before us since he filed his § 2255 motion prior to the effective date of the AEDPA. As a result, we permitted Bloomer to brief any issue properly raised on appeal from the denial of his second petition for habeas relief. We turn now to those issues.