Hayes v. Coombe

Petitioner appeals the district court’s decision to dismiss his petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

The district court held that one of petitioner’s claims was procedurally forfeited (because petitioner failed to make a contemporaneous objection at trial) and that the procedural default was adopted by the state appellate court as an independent and adequate ground for affirming the conviction.

Whether the claim was procedurally forfeited turns upon an analysis of the state court’s opinion rejecting the claim. While an independent and adequate state ground for rejecting a federal claim (e.g.,…