Bargas v. Burns

I concur in all of the majority opinion, except Part II and the judgment. Because I do not agree, however, that petitioner’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim is procedurally defaulted, I respectfully dissent from the majority’s treatment of that claim. Specifically, I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the Nevada procedural rule relied on by the Nevada state court constitutes an adequate ground for its decision.

Under the procedural default doctrine, “[w]hen a state prisoner has defaulted on a claim by violating a state procedural rule which would constitute adequate and…