Moormann, et al v. Schriro, et al
Filing
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ORDER that Petitioner's 248 Motion for Relief from Judgment Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(6) and Motion for Stay of Execution is DENIED. Signed by Chief Judge Roslyn O Silver on 2/27/12.(MAP)
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
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Robert Henry Moormann,
Petitioner,
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v.
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Dora B. Schriro, et al.,
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Respondents.
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No. CV-91-1121-PHX-ROS
DEATH PENALTY CASE
ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR
RELIEF FROM JUDGMENT
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Before the Court is Petitioner’s motion for relief from judgment pursuant to Rule
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60(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and request to stay execution. (Doc. 248.)
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The motion asserts that the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Maples v. Thomas, 132 S. Ct.
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912 (2012), represents a change in the law, which provides a proper ground for this Court to
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reopen judgment to reconsider its determination of procedural default as to Petitioner’s claim
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of ineffective assistance of counsel at sentencing. Petitioner filed the motion at 2:00 p.m. on
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Sunday, February 26, less than 72 hours before his scheduled execution on Wednesday,
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February 29 at 10:00 a.m. Given the short time frame and comprehensiveness of the motion,
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the Court finds it has sufficient information from which to rule and therefore has not
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requested responsive briefing. For the reasons that follow, the motion is denied.
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BACKGROUND
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Petitioner was convicted and sentenced to death in 1985 for the murder of his 74-year-
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old adoptive mother. The details of the crime are set forth in the Arizona Supreme Court’s
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opinion on direct appeal and will not be repeated here. See State v. Moorman, 154 Ariz. 578,
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744 P.2d 679 (1987).1
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After two unsuccessful state petitions for postconviction relief (PCR), Petitioner
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sought federal habeas relief. The habeas petition raised thirty claims, including numerous
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allegations of counsel ineffectiveness at trial and sentencing. This Court ultimately
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determined that each was either procedurally barred or meritless. (Docs. 139, 158, 184.)
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Subsequently, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals remanded for a determination of whether
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the failure of Petitioner’s appellate counsel to raise certain claims on appeal excused the
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default of those claims. Moormann v. Schriro, 426 F.3d 1044, 1059-60 (9th Cir. 2005). In
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doing so, the court limited its remand to consideration of only those claims that were
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presented in Petitioner’s first and second state PCR petitions.
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On remand, Petitioner asserted that appellate counsel should have raised four claims,
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several of which related to the effectiveness of trial counsel. With respect to sentencing,
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Petitioner contended that trial counsel should have presented lay and expert testimony
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concerning Petitioner’s social history, alleged incestuous relationship with his adoptive
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mother, and physical and mental impairments. This Court again denied habeas relief, finding
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that appellate counsel’s failure to raise the trial ineffectiveness claims on appeal was not
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constitutionally deficient. With respect to the sentencing ineffectiveness claim in particular,
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the Court noted that Petitioner had not asserted, in either of his state PCR petitions, an
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ineffectiveness claim based on trial counsel’s failure to enlist experts for sentencing; rather,
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the claim raised in state court was based on the failure to utilize lay witness testimony.
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Petitioner’s last name is spelled variously as “Moorman” and “Moormann” in
the state court record.
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Moormann v. Schriro, No. CV-91-1121-PHX-ROS, 2008 WL 2705146, at *31 n.20 (Jul. 8,
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2008) (unpublished order). The Ninth Circuit affirmed, specifically noting that Petitioner’s
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claim relating to trial counsel’s failure to present expert witnesses at sentencing was
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procedurally barred. Moormann v. Ryan, 628 F.3d 1102, 1106 (9th Cir. 2010).
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On February 21, 2012, eight days before his scheduled execution, Petitioner filed in
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the Ninth Circuit a motion seeking authorization to file a second or successive habeas
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petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b) or in the alternative to recall the mandate. That
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motion requests leave to raise two claims in a new habeas petition: (1) ineffective assistance
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of state postconviction counsel, based on the recent Maples decision, and (2) invalidity of
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Petitioner’s capital sentence due to mental retardation, based on Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S.
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304 (2002). The Ninth Circuit has not yet ruled on the application. Although the instant
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motion to reopen judgment is also based on Maples, Petitioner is seeking to have this Court
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reconsider its procedural bar of his sentencing counsel ineffectiveness claim, not raise an
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independent claim of ineffectiveness from postconviction counsel’s representation or an
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Atkins claim. It thus appears the instant motion is related to the successive petition
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application in only a tangential manner and there is no reason to await the appellate court’s
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decision before ruling here.
DISCUSSION
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Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) entitles the moving party to relief from
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judgment on several grounds, including the catch-all category “any other reason justifying
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relief from the operation of the judgment.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(6). A motion under
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subsection (b)(6) must be brought “within a reasonable time,” Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(c)(1), and
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requires a showing of “extraordinary circumstances.” Gonzalez v. Crosby, 545 U.S. 524, 535
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(2005).
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For habeas petitioners, Rule 60(b) may not be used to avoid the prohibition against
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second or successive petitions set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b). In Gonzalez, the Court
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explained that a Rule 60(b) motion constitutes a second or successive habeas petition when
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it advances a new ground for relief or “attacks the federal court’s previous resolution of a
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claim on the merits.” Id. at 532. “On the merits” refers “to a determination that there exist
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or do not exist grounds entitling a petitioner to habeas corpus relief under 28 U.S.C. §§
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2254(a) and (d).” Id. at n.4. The Court further explained that a Rule 60(b) motion does not
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constitute a second or successive petition when the petitioner “merely asserts that a previous
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ruling which precluded a merits determination was in error—for example, a denial for such
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reasons as failure to exhaust, procedural default, or statute-of-limitations bar.” Id.
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Such is the case here. This Court found procedurally barred Petitioner’s claim
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alleging ineffectiveness from the failure to retain experts at sentencing; it did not rule “on the
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merits” of the claim. Thus, pursuant to Gonzalez, this Court has jurisdiction to consider
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Petitioner’s Rule 60(b) motion, free of the constraints imposed by 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b) upon
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successive petitions. See Ruiz v. Quarterman, 504 F.3d 523, 526 (5th Cir. 2007) (finding
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§ 2244(b) inapplicable where Rule 60(b) motion sought to reopen judgment on procedurally
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barred claim).
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In his motion, Petitioner argues that Maples is a proper ground for this Court to reopen
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its judgment because it demonstrates that the Court erred in finding Petitioner’s
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ineffectiveness claim procedurally barred. In Maples, the Supreme Court recognized that
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attorney abandonment of a client may constitute “cause” to excuse a procedural default. 132
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S. Ct. at 923-24. Petitioner argues that cause to excuse the default of his ineffectiveness
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claim exists here because he was abandoned by his second postconviction counsel, Allen
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Gerhardt. He contends that Gerhardt conducted no investigation and “did not identify, retain
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or consult any mental health experts about Mr. Moormann’s background, or request any
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mental health experts interview and evaluate Mr. Moormann.” (Doc. 248 at 3, citing Doc.
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249-3 at 35 (Gerhardt Decl. at ¶ 3).) Petitioner further contends that Gerhardt failed to
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perform these critical tasks because he “believed the only constitutional violations [he] could
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assert in the petition were record-based claims.” (Id.) This, Petitioner argues, was a
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violation of Gerhardt’s professional obligations under the ABA’s Guidelines for the
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Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases and was “not a
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matter of mistake or negligence; it was an absolute failure to do the job counsel was
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appointed to do and fell grossly below the standard of care for a capital postconviction
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proceeding.” (Doc. 248 at 4.)
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After consideration of the motion, the exhibits in support, and the record in this case,
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the Court concludes that Gerhardt’s actions did not amount to abandonment under Maples.
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Therefore, Petitioner has failed to establish “extraordinary circumstances” justifying relief
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under Rule 60(b).
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In Maples, the Court did not disturb the general rule that “[n]egligence on the part of
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a prisoner’s postconviction attorney does not qualify as ‘cause.’” 132 S. Ct. at 922. Instead,
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the Court distinguished the negligence of counsel from a complete abandonment that severs
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the agency relationship and terminates the lawyer’s authority to act for the client. The Court
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observed that “when an attorney abandons his client without notice, and thereby occasions
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the default,” that conduct severs “the principal-agent relationship” such that the “attorney no
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longer acts, or fails to act, as the client’s representative.” Id.
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The facts in Maples are instructive. There, during the pendency of the petitioner’s
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state postconviction petition, Maples’s attorneys failed to inform him that they had changed
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employment and were unable to represent him in their new positions. In addition, no other
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attorney from the law firm moved to substitute as counsel of record or to inform the state
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court of the change in representation. Consequently, when the state court denied a petition
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for postconviction relief, no attorney sought state appellate review and a federal habeas court
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later found the petitioner’s constitutional claims to be procedurally defaulted as a result of
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the failure to appeal the state court’s ruling.
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In finding cause for the procedural default of Maples’s claims, the Court relied in part
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on its decision in Holland v. Florida, 130 S. Ct. 2549 (2010). In that case, the petitioner
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missed the one-year limitations period for filing a habeas petition, and the Court determined
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that the attorney’s “unprofessional conduct” amounted to an extraordinary circumstance
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justifying equitable tolling. Maples, 132 S. Ct. at 923. The Holland Court recognized that
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an attorney’s negligence in, for example, miscalculating a filing deadline, does not provide
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a basis for equitable tolling. However, in Holland, the petitioner argued that “his lawyer had
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detached himself from any trust relationship” and “abandoned me.” Id. (citing Holland, 130
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S. Ct. at 2555). In Maples, the Court explained the negligence-abandonment distinction:
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In a concurring opinion in Holland, Justice Alito homed in on the
essential difference between a claim of attorney error, however egregious, and
a claim that an attorney had essentially abandoned his client. Holland’s plea
fit the latter category: He alleged abandonment “evidenced by counsel’s neartotal failure to communicate with petitioner or to respond to petitioner’s many
inquiries and requests over a period of several years.” If true, Justice Alito
explained, “petitioner’s allegations would suffice to establish extraordinary
circumstances beyond his control[:] Common sense dictates that a litigant
cannot be held constructively responsible for the conduct of an attorney who
is not operating as his agent in any meaningful sense of that word.”
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Id. (internal citations omitted).
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Here, the Court cannot say that Gerhardt abandoned Petitioner. Gerhardt filed a
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postconviction petition that raised a claim of ineffectiveness at sentencing for failing to
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investigate and present mitigation evidence. He also sought appellate review of the superior
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court’s order summarily dismissing the petition. There is no allegation that Gerhardt
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committed egregious professional misconduct, failed to communicate with Petitioner, or
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failed to respond to Petitioner’s inquiries with respect to preparation of the petition. Nor can
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it be said that Petitioner was left without functioning counsel, as occurred in Maples.
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Instead, Petitioner argues that Gerhardt failed to investigate and develop expert evidence to
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support his allegations of sentencing counsel ineffectiveness. This is nothing more than
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ordinary negligence, not abandonment.
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CONCLUSION
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Petitioner has alleged only negligence with regard to postconviction’s counsel
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representation and not the complete abandonment that is required in Maples. Accordingly,
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he has failed to demonstrate extraordinary circumstances justifying relief under Rule 60(b).
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IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Petitioner’s Motion for Relief from Judgment
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Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(6) and Motion for Stay of Execution (Doc. 248) is
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DENIED.
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DATED this 27th day of February, 2012.
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