Court Limits Ability to Raise New Issues in 2254 PF&R Objections

Samples v. Ballard: Samples was convicted of murder in West Virginia and sentenced to life in prison. A first 2254 petition in Federal court was denied because Samples had not yet exhausted his state habeas remedies. In denying the motion, the court stated that Samples might be able to bring a 2254 claim for ineffective assistance of counsel claim under Martinez, which allows defendants to bring IAC claims in federal court even if not made in a state habeas proceeding. After an unsuccessful return to state court, Samples filed a second 2254 petition, which the magistrate judge recommended be dismissed. In the objections to those PF&Rs, Samples raised, for the first time, "contentions related to the effectiveness of trial counsel, and argued that cause existed to excuse his failure to exhaust these issues" under Martinez. The district court overruled the objections, concluding that it had the ability to hear the IAC claims, but exercised its discretion not to do so. The district court also granted a certificate of appealability on the issue of whether it should hear Samples's IAC claims raised for the first time in the objections.

The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision. First, the court held that a prior decision (George ), in which it held that a district court performing a de novo review of a magistrate's recommendation could not deem issues raised for the first time in objections as "waived" and instead "must entertain them," applied in the context of 2254 proceedings. It conceives of a proceeding as (1) a legal case, that is then divided into (2) issues, which are then divided into (3) arguments. Applying that framework to a 2254 proceeding, (1) the legal case is the petition itself, (2) the issues or claims are the grounds for relief, and (3) the arguments are the positions taken for or against the claims for relief. This rejected Samples's conception, which would have identified only one issue - illegal custody - and transform the grounds for relief in to mere legal arguments. That position would "require us to find that a habeas petitioner could merely state the he is in illegal custody and then make all arguments later" which would "result in an end run around AEDPA."