Opinion ID: 213796
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: GROUNDS 7A(3), 8(5), and 8(3)

Text: Cooper argues that the district court erred in finding Grounds 7A(3), 8(5), and 8(3) of his habeas petition procedurally defaulted (because they were re-presented in his 2006 petition) rather than exhausted (because they were presented in his first petition). Ground 7A(3) is an IAC claim based on trial counsel's failure to object to alleged prosecutorial misconduct. Ground 8(5) is an IAC claim based on appellate counsel's failure to raise the trial court's alleged improper bolstering of Wells's testimony. Ground 8(3) is an IAC claim based on appellate counsel's failure to raise the prosecutor's alleged misconduct in vouching for Wells's credibility. Petitioners are not required to exhaust their claims repeatedly before proceeding to federal court. Boerckel, 526 U.S. at 844, 119 S.Ct. 1728. If a petitioner properly argued his claims through one complete round of the State's established appellate review process during an earlier petition, id. at 845, 119 S.Ct. 1728, they are exhausted and can be considered in federal habeas proceedings. Cooper argues that the Nevada Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's denial of these claims on the merits during his first round of post-conviction review. Therefore, according to Cooper, these claims are not procedurally barred. We agree. Ground 7A(3), failure to object to alleged prosecutorial misconduct, was properly exhausted in Cooper's first state post-conviction proceeding. This claim was raised in the first amended petition and discussed in Cooper's brief to the Nevada Supreme Court. The Nevada Supreme Court addressed the claim and denied it on the merits. Similarly, Ground 8(5), appellate counsel's failure to raise the trial court's allegedly improper bolstering of Wells's testimony, was properly exhausted at the same time. Cooper raised it in his first state petition, discussed it in his appellate brief, and the Nevada Supreme Court denied it on the merits. The Nevada Supreme Court later confirmed that it had addressed the trial court's allegedly improper conduct on the merits. Ground 8(3), appellate counsel's failure to raise the prosecutor's misconduct in vouching for Wells's credibility, presents a slightly different issue. Cooper raised this claim in his appellate brief during his first state post-conviction proceeding and the Nevada Supreme Court denied it on the merits. Furthermore, the Nevada Supreme Court later confirmed that it had addressed the question of prosecutorial misconduct on the merits. Unlike Grounds 7A(3) and 8(5) discussed above, Cooper did not raise Ground 8(3) until his appellate brief in state court. However, we have previously held that if the highest state court considers the merits of the claim, then exhaustion is satisfied. See Greene v. Lambert, 288 F.3d 1081, 1086 (9th Cir.2002) (holding that petitioner exhausted claim when it was actually considered at least once on the merits by the highest state court) (citing Castille v. Peoples, 489 U.S. 346, 350, 109 S.Ct. 1056, 103 L.Ed.2d 380 (1989)). Thus, because the Nevada Supreme Court adjudicated the claim on the merits, [] the claim may proceed. Id. at 1086. Because each of these grounds was denied on the merits in the Nevada Supreme Court, we reverse the district court's dismissal of these claims as procedurally defaulted.