Dahir v. Bolin
- Eric Tostrud
- 0:24-cv-01304
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 2
In Dahir v. Bolin, Judge Tostrud denied Mohammed Abdi Dahir's petition challenging his imprisonment and dismissed the case.
Individuals who are incarcerated and have filed — or are considering filing — a petition in federal court challenging the lawfulness of their confinement in a Minnesota state facility. Also relevant to anyone seeking to understand the consequences of failing to object to a Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation, and the significance of the court declining to issue a certificate of appealability.
What happened
In Dahir v. Bolin (No. 24-cv-1304), Mohammed Abdi Dahir, a person held at Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater, filed a petition asking a federal court to order his release or otherwise challenge his confinement. The case was first reviewed by Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright, who issued a Report and Recommendation on September 30, 2025, recommending that the petition be denied. Neither party objected to that recommendation within the allowed time.
Because no objections were filed, Judge Eric C. Tostrud reviewed the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation only for clear error — a lower level of scrutiny than a full, independent review. The court found no clear error in the Magistrate Judge's analysis.
Judge Tostrud accepted the Report and Recommendation in full. The petition filed by Dahir was denied and the case was dismissed. Two additional motions filed by Dahir — one to supplement the record and one to pause (stay) the petition — were also denied. The court also ruled that no certificate of appealability (a document required before a person can appeal the denial of this type of petition to a higher court) would be issued.
The detailed version
- Dahir v. Bolin · No. 0:24-cv-01304
- Eric Tostrud
- Oct. 29, 2025
Background
Mohammed Abdi Dahir filed a petition — a formal legal request asking a federal court to review the lawfulness of his confinement — against William Bolin, the Warden of Minnesota Correctional Facility (MCF) Stillwater. The precise legal grounds for Dahir's petition are not detailed in this order; the order addresses only the final disposition after a Magistrate Judge's review.
Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation
Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright issued a Report and Recommendation (R&R) on September 30, 2025, recommending denial of the petition. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72(b) and Eighth Circuit precedent (citing Grinder v. Gammon, 73 F.3d 793 (8th Cir. 1996)), when no party objects to a Magistrate Judge's R&R within the prescribed period, the district court reviews it only for clear error — a deferential standard meaning the court will accept the R&R unless it contains an obvious mistake.
District Court's Ruling
No party filed objections to the R&R. Judge Tostrud reviewed it under the clear error standard, found none, and accepted it in full.
The court's specific rulings are as follows:
- Petition denied and case dismissed. Dahir's amended petition (ECF No. 31) was denied and the action was dismissed.
- Motion to Supplement the Record denied. Dahir's motion to add materials to the record (ECF No. 36) was denied.
- Motion to Stay denied. Dahir's motion to pause or hold the petition in abeyance (ECF No. 40) was denied.
- No certificate of appealability. The court declined to issue a certificate of appealability (COA). A COA is a threshold requirement for appealing the denial of this type of confinement-challenge petition to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Without a COA, Dahir cannot proceed with a direct appeal of this denial as of right, though he may separately seek a COA from the Court of Appeals itself.
Notes on Scope of This Order
This order is an adoption order, not a substantive merits opinion. The underlying legal analysis and factual findings are contained in Magistrate Judge Wright's R&R (ECF No. 41), which is not reproduced here. The order does not specify whether the dismissal is with or without prejudice; it states only that the petition is "denied" and the action is "dismissed."
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.