Opinion ID: 781943
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Applicability of Valerio.

Text: 46 Turning to the merits, we find that Valerio v. Crawford squarely controls this case. In Valerio, an en banc panel of this Court reviewed the district court's rejection of several habeas claims as procedurally defaulted. See 306 F.3d at 771-75. The Nevada district court had determined that eighteen of the petitioner's claims had been raised before and could not be relitigated pursuant to Nevada Revised Statutes § 34.810. Id. at 771-72. The Nevada Supreme Court determined that only some of these eighteen claims had been litigated previously, but determined that dismissal was proper because the other claims could have been raised previously and were procedurally barred. Id. at 772. The en banc court held that, because it failed to specify which claims were barred for which reasons, the Nevada Supreme Court `did not clearly and expressly rely on an independent and adequate state ground.' Id. at 775 (quoting Coleman, 501 U.S. at 735, 111 S.Ct. 2546). Accordingly, none of the eighteen claims could be held to be procedurally defaulted. Id. 47 The factual parallels between the two cases are remarkable. As in Valerio, the Nevada district court here determined that the issues raised in Koerner's petition already had been raised in prior petitions. As in Valerio, the Nevada Supreme Court here did not agree entirely with the district court, but held that Koerner's claims either had been raised previously or, if they had not been raised previously, were now procedurally defaulted under Nevada Revised Statutes § 34.810. As in Valerio, it is impossible to tell from the Nevada Supreme Court's opinion here which issues were barred as previously litigated, and which were barred as procedurally defaulted. We need not expand the rule of Valerio to hold that Koerner's case falls within it. By failing to specify which claims were barred for which reasons, the Nevada Supreme Court `did not clearly and expressly rely on an independent and adequate state ground.' Valerio, 306 F.3d at 774-75 (quoting Coleman, 501 U.S. at 735, 111 S.Ct. 2546). Koerner's direct appeal claim is not procedurally defaulted. 48