In Jimenez v. Dep’t of Corrections, No. 06-14523 (March 23, 2007), the Court denied a certificate of appealability to a Florida death row inmate who claimed that the Florida Supreme Court failed to apply retroactively a defense-favorable burglary precedent to him.
The Court noted that Jimenez failed to exhaust his retroactivity claim in the Florida courts, and that he was now barred from doing so in federal court, because his claim would now be procedurally defaulted in Florida state courts, and he had not shown "cause" for the default. Even if his claim were not defaulted, the Court found no constitutional error in the Florida courts’ refusal to apply a precedent retroactively to Jimenez.
The Court found Jimenez’ remaining claims to be procedurally barred, or failed to assert a claim worthy of a certificate of appealability.
