Payton

MEMORANDUM *

Arthur Gene Payton appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, brought under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . We affirm.

I

The district court did not err by denying Payton an evidentiary hearing on his claims because he failed to exercise diligence in developing the record in state court as required by § 2254(e)(2) and Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 420 , 120 S.Ct. 1479 , 146 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). He neither requested an evidentiary hearing in state court, nor supported his claims there with specific factual allegations. See Baja v. Ducharme, 187 F.3d 1075, 1078-79 (9th Cir.1999). Payton’s suggestion that he failed to do so on account of fill-in-the-blank forms is waived as he raises it only in reply, see Sophanthavong v. Palmateer, 378 F.3d 859, 872 (9th Cir.2004) (as amended); in any event, the suggestion is belied by the fact that his submission to the California Supreme Court included eighteen pages of argument on blank sheets of paper. Likewise, his suggestion that his failure to develop a record was attributable to unavailability of the trial file is raised for the first time in reply and is waived. Even so, Payton could have sought an…