Castro v. LaManna
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:18-cv-03315
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Castro v. LaManna, Judge Abrams adopted the recommendation, denied Castro’s amended habeas petition, dismissed the action, and refused a certificate of appealability.
The ruling affected Mario Castro’s federal challenge to his state murder conviction and ended his case against Jamie LaManna, the superintendent identified as respondent.
What happened
Mario Castro, who represented himself, challenged his 2013 state conviction for second-degree murder through a federal petition seeking release from unlawful custody. The court had previously required him to amend his petition after denying a request to pause the case while he pursued two ineffective-assistance claims in state court.
A magistrate judge recommended denying the amended petition in full. Neither Castro nor the respondent objected to that recommendation, so the court reviewed it for obvious error and found none.
Judge Ronnie Abrams adopted the recommendation in full, denied the amended petition, and dismissed the action. The court also declined to issue a certificate of appealability because Castro had not made the required substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied.
The detailed version
- Castro v. LaManna · No. 1:18-cv-03315
- Ronnie Abrams
- May 28, 2020
Background
Mario Castro, proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging his July 2013 state-law conviction for second-degree murder. The court previously denied his request to pause the federal case so he could pursue two ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims in state court. It then ordered him to amend the petition to include only his unexhausted claims. Castro filed the amended petition on February 28, 2019.
Report and Recommendation
On March 30, 2020, Magistrate Judge Stewart Aaron recommended denying the amended petition in its entirety. Neither Castro nor the respondent filed objections. Castro instead filed a notice of appeal before the district court had ruled on the recommendation. The district court later extended Castro’s time to object, but he did not file objections by the May 12, 2020 deadline.
When no objections are filed, the district court may adopt a magistrate judge’s recommendation if the record shows no clear error. The court reviewed Judge Aaron’s report under that standard and found no error. The order did not independently analyze the underlying habeas claims; it adopted the report based on the absence of clear error.
Ruling
Judge Ronnie Abrams adopted Judge Aaron’s report in its entirety. The court denied the amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus and dismissed the action. It also declined to issue a certificate of appealability, finding that the amended petition did not make a substantial showing that a constitutional right had been denied. The clerk was directed to mail the order to Castro and close the case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.