The following excerpt is from Oden v. Bunnell, 72 F.3d 135 (9th Cir. 1995):
5 Defendant argues that because he filed his habeas petition pro se, it must be liberally construed to include the due process claim. While we recognize that pro se petitions are entitled to some latitude, see Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dept., 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir.1990), we cannot allow the invocation of liberal pro se rules, and little else, to circumvent the basic requirement that defendant's claims be found in his habeas petition. In this case, the defendant did not properly raise the issue in his petition, the state did not address it in its response, the magistrate judge did not make any findings or recommendations regarding the claim, and the district court judge did not decide the issue.
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