Barker v. Jones

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

NEAHER, District Judge.

The threshold question which must be addressed in this habeas proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 is whether petitioner, now serving a sentence of fifteen years to life on his bargained guilty plea to a State felony murder charge, may prosecute here a constitutional claim of ineffective assistance of counsel after he had forfeited that right in the State courts by becoming a fugitive, resulting in the dismissal with prejudice of his direct appeal. For the reasons indicated below, the Court declines to entertain petitioner’s claim in such circumstances…