Rex Eugene Austin v. James A. Thomas Grant Woods, Attorney General, State of Arizona

981 F.2d 1257 NOTICE: Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 provides that dispositions other than opinions or orders designated for publication are not precedential and should not be cited except when relevant under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. Rex Eugene AUSTIN, Petitioner-Appellant, v. James A. THOMAS; Grant Woods, Attorney General, State of Arizona, Respondents-Appellees. No. 92-15175. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Submitted Dec. 14, 1992. * Decided Dec. 23, 1992. Before GOODWIN, O'SCANNLAIN and RYMER, Circuit Judges. 1 MEMORANDUM ** 2 Austin appeals the district court's dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus as an abuse of the writ. 3 Austin contends that the "cause and prejudice" standard made applicable to subsequent habeas petitions by McCleskey v. Zant, 111 S.Ct. 1454 (1991), cannot be applied to him. He argues that McCleskey announced a "new rule" within the meaning of Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288 (1989), and thus cannot be retroactively applied. This court has already squarely rejected this argument. Harris v. Vasquez, 949 F.2d 1497, 1512 (9th Cir.1990), cert. denied, 112 S.Ct. 1275 (1992). 4 Austin contends that…