Opinion
No. CIV 05-2436 PHX-DGC (DKD).
November 8, 2005
ORDER
Currently pending before the Court is Petitioner Ronnie Lynch's Motion to Amend, filed September 1, 2005 (Doc. #10). He seeks to include in his amended habeas petition the Blakely claim presented in two state post-conviction petitions, both denied by the trial court, the most recent on August 11, 2005, the day before he filed his federal petition. Lynch previously requested a stay of these habeas proceedings, pending the amendment to include this claim. The district court denied the motion, finding that "[e]ven if the unexhausted claim were added in an amended petition, the Court would not grant a stay" (Doc. #6 at 2). The Court concluded that Lynch's Blakely claim is not "potentially meritorious" because his conviction became final long before Blakely was decided, and it could not be applied retroactively, citing Schardt v. Payne, 414 F.3d 1025 (9th Cir. 2005). Any attempt to amend his petition to include this claim would therefore be futile. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED DENYING Petitioner Ronnie Lynch's Motion to Amend (Doc. #10).