United States Seventh Circuit

In defendant's request for habeas relief from his conviction for four counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle and two counts of causing injury by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle, district court's denial of the petition but a grant of a Certificate of Appealability on the issue of whether the state courts violated defendant's due process rights by sentencing him based on inaccurate information, are affirmed where: 1) defendant procedurally defaulted his challenge to the allegedly inaccurate information in the pre-sentence report, that he consumed up to 23 beers in the hours preceding the crash, because he failed to object to it, and there is no valid cause that excuses this default; 2) even if defendant had not defaulted his claim with respect to the allegedly inaccurate information in the pre-sentence report, defendant did not demonstrate that the trial court relied on materially incorrect information in his sentencing; and 3) defendant's request to expand his Certificate of Appealability to address his ineffective assistance of counsel arguments is rejected as defendant procedurally defaulted this claim by failing to fully and fairly present it to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Appellate Information

• Argued 11/12/2010
• Decided 12/14/2010
• Published 12/14/2010

Judges

• WILLIAMS

Court

• United States Seventh Circuit

Counsel