Cummings v. Johnson

Filing 17

ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS 15 . ORDERED that the petition of Gregory C. Cummings for issuance of a writ of habeas corpus under 28:2254 is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. Signed by Judge Carl Barbier.(gec, )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
CUMMINGS

CIVIL ACTION

VERSUS

NUMBER: 11-687

JOHNSON

SECTION: "J"(5)
ORDER

Before

the

Court

is

the

petitioner,

Gregory

Cummings’s,

objection (Rec. Doc. 16) to the Magistrate Judge’s Report and
Recommendation (Rec. Doc. 15).

The Court rejects the petitioner’s

re-urging of arguments properly rejected by the Magistrate Judge.
The Magistrate Judge properly found that the state court’s finding
of constitutionally effective assistance of counsel was reasonable
under Title 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1).

Morever, the Magistrate Judge

reached the correct result under § 2254(d)(2).

Specifically, the

state post-conviction court reasonably determined the facts in
upholding the jury’s conclusion that the connection between the
cocaine rocks and the defendant was proven beyond a reasonable
doubt.

The petitioner adverts to a lab report, a police report,

and police testimony for his assertion that numerous cocaine rocks
seized at the crime scene did not match the two large rocks

introduced at trial.

However, the state post-conviction court

reasonably concluded that at trial a foundation was established
connecting the physical evidence with the defendant.
The Court, having considered the petition, the record, the
applicable law, and the Report and Recommendation of the United
States

Magistrate

Judge;

hereby

overrules

the

petitioner’s

objection, approves the Report and Recommendation of the United
States Magistrate Judge, and adopts it as the Court’s opinion in
this matter.

Accordingly,

IT IS ORDERED that the petition of Gregory C. Cummings for
issuance of a writ of habeas corpus under Title 28 U.S.C. § 2254,
is hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.
New Orleans, Louisiana, this 29th day of February, 2012.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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