Opinion ID: 2494
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Independent State Ground

Text: At the outset, we discuss two procedural issues addressed by the district court. First, we note our agreement with the district court that the Appellate Division, Second Department, nowhere clearly and expressly indicated that it rejected Acosta's constitutional challenge to the admission of his confession on an independent state law ground. See Acosta v. Artuz, 375 F.Supp.2d at 178; People v. Acosta, 224 A.D.2d at 629-30, 639 N.Y.S.2d at 709. Thus, the concerns of comity and federalism that bar federal review of claims denied on such grounds are not implicated here. Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U.S. at 730, 111 S.Ct. 2546.