James Morrison v. Michael Mahoney, Warden, Montana State Prison

James Morrison (“Morrison”) appeals the denial of his habeas petition by the district court" pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . Morrison contends that the district court erred in finding that various of his habeas claims were barred by procedural default. He asserts that the appel-lee, Michael Mahoney, the warden of the Montana State Prison (“the State”), waived this defense by failing to raise it in a timely manner. In addition, Morrison has filed a motion to this court to broaden the Certificate of Appealability (“COA”) to include the issue of whether the state trial court violated his Sixth Amendment right to; counsel by failing to properly investigate his complaints about his trial counsel. We haye jurisdiction under 28 U.S-C. §§ 1291 and 2253. We affirm the district court’s denial of the habeas petition, and deny Morrison’s motion to broaden the COA. - .

I. BACKGROUND

A State trial court proceedings

On September 18, 1990, Morrison was charged with having sexual intercourse without consent in violation of Mont.Code Ann. § 45-5-503. During the ■ arraignment, the court appointed counsel for Morrison. On October 29, 1990, Morrison wrote a letter to the trial judge, requesting new…