Emanuel Ayala Matias v. Masaru Oshiro and Tany S. Hong

In this appeal, we review a district court’s dismissal of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The issues are whether Matías had presented the ineffective assistance of counsel claim urged in the federal habeas petition to the state courts, whether the district court could interpret state statutes to conclude that there were no remaining state remedies, and whether the district court should have ruled on Matías’ contested contention that there was cause for, and prejudice from, his failure to present all his claims in his earlier state court proceeding.

Matías, a Hawaii prisoner, sought habeas relief in federal district court. Matías had been charged with four counts of forcible rape and one count of statutory rape. His first trial on the forcible rape charges resulted in a hung jury. His second trial resulted in convictions on two counts of forcible rape and on the statutory rape count. In his federal habeas petition, Matías alleged ineffective assistance of his counsel at the second trial, error by the state trial court in not ordering severance of multiple rape counts, and error in admitting evidence of his alleged connections with organized crime in Hawaii. Matías had…