Adriano Vargas v. John P. Keane

*1275JOSÉ A. CABRANES, Circuit Judge:

Petitioner Adriano Vargas appeals from a December 19, 1994, judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Michael B. Mukasey, Judge) dismissing his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. On appeal, Vargas contends that (1) the district court erred in concluding that the trial court’s reasonable doubt instruction was not constitutionally deficient; and (2) the district court improperly deemed his challenge to the prosecutor’s summation procedurally barred.

We conclude that the challenged instruction,…