The following excerpt is from Fulton v. Graham, Docket No. 14-1861-pr (2nd Cir. 2015):
In habeas proceedings concerning a state prisoner, a federal court is required to presume that a state court's factual findings are correct and to place on the petitioner the burden of rebutting this presumption by clear and convincing evidence. See 28 U.S.C. 2254(e)(1). A federal habeas court also may not review a related state court decision if that decision rests on a state law ground that is "independent of the federal question and adequate to support the judgment." Cone v. Bell, 556 U.S. 449, 465 (2009) (internal quotation marks omitted). This prudential rule applies "whether the state law ground is
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