Allwine v. Bolin
- John Tunheim
- 0:24-cv-00439
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 8
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In Allwine v. Bolin, Judge Tunheim denied Stephen Allwine's petition for a federal writ of habeas corpus, finding his claims either procedurally barred or legally insufficient.
State prisoners seeking federal habeas corpus review of their convictions, particularly those who may not have specifically raised federal constitutional claims in their state court proceedings. This ruling illustrates how failure to properly present federal claims through the complete state appellate process can permanently bar those claims from federal review.
What happened
In Allwine v. Bolin, Stephen Allwine, who is serving a life sentence after a state court conviction for first-degree premeditated murder, filed a federal petition seeking release from custody by arguing that his constitutional rights under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments were violated. He raised twelve separate grounds for relief. The Minnesota Supreme Court had previously affirmed both his conviction and the denial of his two state postconviction petitions before he brought this federal case.
A magistrate judge reviewed the petition and issued a Report and Recommendation in December 2025 advising that the petition be denied in full. The magistrate judge found that ten of Allwine's twelve grounds had never been properly raised in state court and were now procedurally barred — meaning he had lost the chance to pursue them — because he either knew or should have known about those claims at the time of his direct appeal. The remaining two grounds were found to lack any basis in federal law, since there is no federal constitutional right to postconviction procedures or to counsel and oral argument on discretionary appeals.
Judge John R. Tunheim of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota adopted the magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation, overruled Allwine's objections, and denied the petition. The court also declined to issue a certificate of appealability, meaning no permission to appeal was granted, because Allwine did not show that reasonable judges could disagree about the outcome of his claims.
The detailed version
- Allwine v. Bolin · No. 0:24-cv-00439
- John Tunheim
- July 15, 2026
Background
Stephen Allwine is serving a life sentence following a state court conviction for first-degree premeditated murder. The Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and the denial of his first postconviction petition in State v. Allwine, 963 N.W.2d 178 (Minn. 2021) (Allwine I), and again affirmed the denial of his second postconviction petition in State v. Allwine, 994 N.W.2d 528 (Minn. 2023) (Allwine II).
On February 12, 2024, Allwine, proceeding without a lawyer (pro se), filed a federal habeas corpus petition — a request for a federal court to order his release from custody on the ground that his imprisonment violates federal law or the Constitution — under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. He raised twelve grounds for relief, alleging violations of the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments.
The Twelve Grounds for Relief
Allwine's twelve grounds included: (1) insufficient evidence to support conviction; (2) prosecutorial withholding of exculpatory evidence in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments; (3) denial of an evidentiary hearing by the postconviction court; (4) ineffective assistance of appellate counsel; (5) improper admission of prior bad acts evidence; (6) prosecutorial misconduct; (7) violations of Brady v. Maryland and the Confrontation Clause; (8) denial of access to his electronic device in violation of the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments; (9) denial of his application to proceed without paying fees in violation of the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments; (10) denial of oral argument and counsel on appeal; (11) violation of his right to an impartial jury; and (12) cumulative effect of all alleged errors denying him a fair trial.
Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation
On December 29, 2025, Magistrate Judge Douglas L. Micko issued a Report and Recommendation (R&R) recommending denial of the entire petition. The R&R concluded:
- Grounds 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, and 12 were not "fairly presented" in state court — meaning Allwine had not properly alerted the state courts to the federal constitutional nature of these claims. Because Allwine either knew or should have known of these claims at the time of his direct appeal, they are now procedurally defaulted under Minnesota's Knaffla rule, which bars claims known but not raised on direct appeal from being raised in later postconviction proceedings. Allwine did not demonstrate cause for the default and actual prejudice, nor that failure to consider the claims would result in a fundamental miscarriage of justice, so federal habeas review was barred.
- Grounds 3 and 10 — concerning the denial of a postconviction evidentiary hearing and the denial of oral argument and counsel on appeal — failed to allege any violation of federal law or constitutional right. Federal law does not recognize a constitutional mandate for state postconviction procedures, and while a defendant has a constitutional right to counsel on a first direct appeal, no such right attaches on subsequent discretionary appeals.
Court's Analysis and Ruling
Allwine filed timely objections to the R&R. Judge Tunheim reviewed the properly objected-to portions de novo (independently, without deference to the magistrate) and reviewed the remainder for clear error. The court liberally construed Allwine's pro se objections but concluded they did not undermine the magistrate's analysis.
The court adopted the R&R in full:
Procedural Default (Grounds 1, 2, 4–9, 11, 12) The court agreed that these grounds were not fairly presented to the state courts. Fair presentment requires a petitioner to specifically identify a federal constitutional right, provision, or case — a general appeal to broad concepts like due process is insufficient. Because these claims were known or should have been known at the time of direct appeal and were not raised, they are procedurally barred under the Knaffla rule and cannot form the basis for federal habeas relief.
No Federal Right Alleged (Grounds 3 and 10) The court confirmed that there is no federal constitutional right to postconviction procedures or to appellate counsel on discretionary (non-first) appeals, citing Lackawanna County District Attorney v. Coss, 532 U.S. 394 (2001), and Riley v. Lockhart, 726 F.2d 421 (8th Cir. 1984). Accordingly, these grounds presented no plausible claim for habeas relief.
Disposition
- Allwine's objections to the R&R: overruled - Magistrate Judge's R&R: adopted - Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus: denied - Certificate of Appealability (permission to appeal the denial of habeas relief): not issued, because Allwine did not show that reasonable jurists would find the issues debatable, that another court would resolve them differently, or that the issues deserve further proceedings under 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2).
Read the full 8-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.