Opinion ID: 71523
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Request for Additional Discovery

Text: Williams also moved the district court to allow him discovery and expert services to pursue his actual innocence claim in federal court. The district court denied this request, and Williams asserts that the district court abused its discretion by doing so. Because Williams failed to develop the factual basis of this claim in state court, he must now overcome AEDPA's bar against additional evidentiary hearings in federal court. Specifically, § 2254(2)(A)-(B) states that a federal court cannot grant an evidentiary hearing unless a petitioner demonstrates that: (A) the claim relies on (i) a new rule of constitutional law, made retroactive to cases on collateral review by the Supreme Court, that was previously unavailable; or (ii) a factual predicate that could not have been previously discovered through the exercise of due diligence; and (B) the facts underlying the claim would be sufficient to establish by clear and convincing evidence that but for constitutional error, no reasonable factfinder would have found the applicant guilty of the underlying offense. For the reasons discussed inter alia, the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Williams's request for an evidentiary hearing. Williams does not argue for relief based on any new rule of constitutional law, and he could have developed the factual predicate for his actual innocence claim earlier through the exercise of due diligence. Additionally, as discussed above, Williams's actual innocence claim does not convince us that no reasonable factfinder would have found Williams guilty of Blando's murder. Reasonable jurists would not debate this conclusion, and we thus deny Williams's request for a COA.