Leon Alcorn v. Steve Smith, Warden, Kentucky State Reformatory

WISEMAN, District Judge.

This is a habeas corpus case brought under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The petitioner was convicted of first degree sodomy and of being a persistent felon under Kentucky’s persistent felon statute, Ky.Rev.Stat. § 532.080(3)(b), which requires that one be at least eighteen years of age at the time he commits two prior offenses. The petitioner raises before this Court several grounds for relief: 1) Denial of due process by the district court’s dismissal of his habeas petition due to a procedural default at trial without affording the petitioner a hearing on cause and prejudice; 2)…