James E. Griffin, Jr. v. Dan Johnson, Superintendent, Snake River Correctional Institution

Petitioner James Griffin appeals from the district court’s denial of his amended petition for habeas corpus relief. He argues that the district court erred (1) in concluding that his newly presented evidence did not establish actual innocence with respect to his proeedurally defaulted ineffective assistance of counsel claim, and (2) in denying an evidentiary hearing on his actual innocence claim. We have jurisdiction to review Griffin’s petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 28 U.S.C. § 2253 (a), and we affirm.

I.

In February 1991, Griffin met Roseanne Walter at a soup kitchen in Medford, Oregon. Witnesses reported seeing Griffin and Walter driving around town together following this initial encounter. When Walter’s body turned up several days later partially burned with multiple stab wounds, Medford police charged Griffin with intentional murder.

Shortly after being indicted for Walter’s murder, Griffin obtained summaries of his psychiatric records from Camarillo State Hospital, where he had been institutionalized intermittently throughout his childhood and adolescence. Griffin’s discharge summaries from Camarillo indicate that he suffers from “Non-Psychotic Organic Brain…