Opinion ID: 2655001
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: facts

Text: While in his prison cell, Mr. Gawlas combined cinnamon and apples in a gallon jug, thereby creating some form of “homebrew.” Prison officials discovered this concoction during a cell search. He was found guilty of a Class X misconduct for manufacturing an intoxicant, or a “homebrew,” and the administrative review authority affirmed the disciplinary conviction on November 6, 2012. Mr. Gawlas did not seek judicial review in the state district court. Mr. Gawlas requested the instant habeas relief based on his view that there was insufficient evidence to support the disciplinary conviction. The Respondent moved to dismiss the petition because Mr. Gawlas failed to exhaust his state court remedies and his habeas petition was therefore procedurally barred. The district court, after referring the matter to a magistrate judge, dismissed the petition with prejudice, finding that Mr. Gawlas had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. The court noted that the exhaustion requirement “may be excused if there is ‘an absence of available State corrective process’ or where ‘circumstances exist that render such process ineffective to protect the rights of the applicant.’” Order at 2 (quoting Magar v. Parker, 490 F.3d 816 (10th Cir. 2007) (citations omitted)). The district court proceeded to find that adequate state corrective process did exist; that pursuit of that process would not have been futile; and that Mr. Gawlas’s argument that it was implausible that the Oklahoma -2- Department of Corrections (“ODOC”) would overturn his finding of guilt for fear of a subsequent § 1983 action was “groundless.” Id. Finally, the court found there was no “cause” excusing Mr. Gawlas’s failure to pursue his state administrative remedy, nor could he establish that a fundamental miscarriage of justice would flow from his conviction. Thus, his failure to exhaust his state court remedies acted as a bar to federal habeas review. The court dismissed his habeas petition with prejudice. Mr. Gawlas’s request for a COA followed.