The following excerpt is from Cottrell v. Trimble, 1:04-cv-05943-SMS-HC (E.D. Cal. 2012):
Singletary, 520 U.S. 518, 525 (1997) (citing 28 U.S.C. 2254(b)(2), which permits a federal court to deny a habeas petition on the merits notwithstanding the applicant's failure to exhaust state remedies); Franklin v. Johnson, 290 F.3d 1223, 1232 (9th Cir. 2002) (noting the power of appellate courts to reach the merits of habeas petitions if on their face and without regard to any facts that could be developed in a lower court, they are clearly not meritorious).
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