Judicial Notice of Internet Evidence — Court Records from Westlaw — Westlaw as a Reliable Source - Joseph Hage Aaronson

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Judicial Notice of Internet Evidence — Court Records from Westlaw — Westlaw as a Reliable Source

Pickens v. Klee, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 163390 (E.D. Mich. Nov. 21, 2014):

A habeas petitioner has the burden of proving that he or she has exhausted his or her state court remedies. See Rust v. Zent, 17 F.3d 155, 160 (6th Cir. 1994). Federal habeas corpus relief is unavailable to a state prisoner who fails to allege that he or she has exhausted his or her available state court remedies. See Granville v. Hunt, 411 F.2d 9, 11 (5th Cir. 1969). The instant petition is subject to dismissal, because Petitioner has failed to allege or indicate in his petition that he has exhausted his state court remedies with respect to his claims. See Peralta v. Leavitt, 56 F. App'x 534, 535 (2d Cir. 2003); See also Fast v. Wead, 509 F. Supp. 744, 746 (N.D. Ohio 1981). In addition, this Court has reviewed the Michigan Court of Appeals' internet website and there is no indication of [*6] any appeal ever having been filed by Petitioner after 2009. A search of Westlaw online has also failed to reveal any cases filed by Petitioner in the Michigan Court of Appeals or the Michigan Supreme Court after 2009.¹

1 The Court obtained this information from the Michigan Court of Appeals' website, coa.courts.mi.gov/, and from Westlaw's website, www.westlaw.com. Public records and government documents, including those available from reliable sources on the Internet, are subject to judicial notice. See United States ex. rel. Dingle v. BioPort Corp., 270 F. Supp. 2d 968, 972 (W.D. Mich. 2003). A federal district court is also permitted to take judicial notice of another court's website. See, e.g., Graham v. Smith, 292 F. Supp. 2d 153, 155 n.2 (D. Me. 2003).

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