Gerald Pizzuto, Jr. v. Al Ramirez

Idaho state prisoner Gerald Ross Pizzuto, Jr., appeals from the denial of his motion under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 60(b) and 60(d) for relief from the district court’s judgment denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Pizzuto, who has been sentenced to death, contends: (1) that Martinez v. Ryan, — U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 1309 , 182 L.Ed.2d 272 (2012), established the kind of extraordinary circumstances needed to justify reopening the judgment under Rule 60(b)(6), and that three of his claims for post-conviction relief relating to judicial bias and his trial counsel’s conflict of interest, which were rejected by the Idaho Supreme Court as procedurally barred, are in fact eligible for consideration under Martinez; and (2) that he is entitled to relief under Rules 60(b)(6) and 60(d)(3) because the states’ attorneys had perpetrated a fraud oh the federal district court. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We conclude that Pizzuto’s claims relating to judicial bias do not fall within Martinez’s exception, his claim relating to his counsel’s conflict of interest does not satisfy our circuit’s test for establishing cause to excuse procedural default under…