Hartey v. Vaughn

Argued October 8, 1998 *Honorable John T. Noonan, Jr., Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, sitting by designation. (Filed: July 30, 1999) OPINION OF THE COURT I. INTRODUCTION Patrick Hartey, the petitioner in this habeas corpus proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, appeals from an order of the district court entered on November 14, 1997, adopting the report and recommendation of a magistrate Judge dated April 1, 1997, and denying Hartey's petition without an evidentiary hearing. Inasmuch as both the magistrate Judge and the district court wrote comprehensive opinions, see Hartey v. Vaughn, 1997 WL 710946 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 14, 1997) (district court opinion), the Superior Court of Pennsylvania wrote a published opinion on Hartey's direct appeal, see Commonwealth v. Hartey, 621 A.2d 1023 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1993), and we recently wrote a published opinion in a habeas corpus case brought by Thomas McCandless, a co-defendant, see McCandless v. Vaughn, 172 F.3d 255 (3d Cir. 1999), we only need summarize the background of the case.