ANDREW P. GORDON, District Judge.
This is a habeas corpus proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 brought by Ernest Dean Carpenter, a Nevada prisoner. Carpenter has four motions pending before the court: (1) a motion for reconsideration of this court's dismissal of Grounds 3(a-f) and (h) (ECF No. 54); (2) a motion for appointment of counsel (ECF No. 57); (3) a motion for stay (ECF No. 58); and (4) a motion for evidentiary hearing (ECF No. 60). For the reasons that follow, these motions shall be denied.
Carpenter asks this court to reconsider its order of May 28, 2015 (ECF No. 43), which dismissed Grounds 3(a-f) and (h) as procedurally defaulted. Those claims were dismissed by the Nevada Supreme Court as untimely under Nev. Rev. Stat. § 34.726(1) and successive under Nev. Rev. Stat. §34.810(2), both adequate and independent procedural bars. ECF No. 36-13. With his motion, Carpenter does not raise any arguments that he did not or could not have raised in opposing respondents' motion to dismiss. Thus, the motion is denied. See Backlund v. Barnhart, 778 F.2d 1386, 1388 (9
Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §3006A(a)(2)(B), the district court has discretion to appoint counsel when it determines that the "interests of justice" require representation. There is no constitutional right to appointed counsel for a federal habeas corpus proceeding. Pennsylvania v. Finley, 481 U.S. 551, 555(1987); Bonin v. Vasquez, 999 F.2d 425, 428 (9
The petition on file in this action is sufficiently clear in presenting Carpenter's claims. Also, the issues in this case are not particularly complex. It does not appear that counsel is justified in this instance. Carpenter's motion for appointment of counsel is denied.
With his motion for stay, Carpenter asks to stay proceedings in this case to return to state court to exhaust an additional habeas claim. The claim Carpenter seeks to present alleges that the state district court must allow him to withdraw his guilty plea agreement because the court failed to inform him of all the consequences of the agreement. Absent from Carpenter's motion for stay is any justification for introducing this claim more than five years after initiating this proceeding and after having already been permitted a previous stay for exhaustion purposes.
In addition, this court need not allow Carpenter to amend a habeas petition where the amended claim would be futile. See Bonin v. Calderon, 59 F.3d 815, 844 (9
Carpenter asks for an evidentiary hearing to present evidence related to a "psychiatric report" prepared by a psychiatrist at the request of defense counsel prior to Carpenter entering a guilty plea. ECF No. 63, p. 9-12. The report was presented in his state court proceedings, and the claim in his petition to which it relates was adjudicated on the merits by the Nevada Supreme Court. ECF No. 9-31. Thus, an evidentiary hearing in this court would serve no purpose. See Cullen v. Pinholster, 563 U.S. 170, 181-82 (2011) (holding that federal habeas review under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1) is limited to the record that was before the state court that adjudicated the claim on the merits). In addition, Carpenter has not shown that he can surmount the obstacles to an evidentiary hearing imposed by § 2254(e)(2). His motion for an evidentiary hearing is denied.