Ford

MEMORANDUM ***

Earl D. Ford, a Montana state prisoner, appeals the district court’s dismissal of his habeas corpus petition for failure to exhaust and procedural default. 1 We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253 . 2 Reviewing de novo, we affirm.

I. EXHAUSTION

Ford contends that the trial court violated his federal due process rights by admitting character evidence at trial. Ford presented this claim for the first and only time in a petition for rehearing on direct appeal to the Montana Supreme Court. That court summarily denied the petition.

A petitioner must exhaust all state remedies with respect to his federal claims before a federal court may entertain his petition for writ of habeas corpus. Vasquez v. Hillery, 474 U.S. 254, 257 , 106 S.Ct. 617 , 88 L.Ed.2d 598 (1986). A claim is not fairly presented if it is submitted for the first time in a procedural context in which the state’s highest court will not consider the merits unless “there are special and important reasons.” Castille v. Peoples, 489 U.S. 346, 351 , 109 S.Ct. 1056 , 103 L.Ed.2d 380 (1989) (internal quotation marks omitted). Under Montana law, a petition for rehearing provides a procedural context…