Morris v. Warden, Mansfield Correctional Institution

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
WESTERN DIVISION AT DAYTON
D'ALCAPONE A. MORRIS
Petitioner, 	: 	Case No. 3:25-cv-00388
- vs - 	District Judge Michael J. Newman
Magistrate Judge Michael R. Merz
WARDEN,
Mansfield Correctional Institution,
:
Respondent.
DECISION AND ORDER
This habeas corpus case, brought pro se by Petitioner D’Alcapone Morris under 28 U.S.C.
§ 2254, is before the Court on Petitioner’s Motion to Expand the Record (ECF No. 13).
Exhibits A and B are described by Petitioner as pages from the trial transcript.
Respondent’s counsel shall forthwith examine these exhibits and advise the Court if they are in
fact pages from the trial transcript, furnishing the Court with the PageID citations for them. If they
are not already part of the State Court Record, Respondent’s counsel shall advise the Court why
they have not been included and whether Respondent objects to their addition to the record,
presumably as parts of complete documents.
Exhibits C, D, and E do not appear to have been part of the record that was before the state
courts when they decided this case. Their addition to the record at this point is precluded by Cullen
v. Pinholster, 563 U.S. 170 (2011). Pinholster bars a federal court “from admitting new evidence
Case: 3:25-cv-00388-MJN-MRM Doc #: 14 Filed: 03/12/26 Page: 1 of 2 PAGEID #: <pageID>

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upon which to assess the reasonableness of a state court's constitutional analysis.” Upshaw v.
Stephenson, 97 F. 4 th 365, 372 (6th Cir. 2024), quoting Mitchell v. Genovese, 974 F.3d 638, 647
(6th Cir. 2020). Petitioner’s Motion to Expand is denied as to Exhibits C, D, and E.
March 12, 2026.
s/ Michael R. Merz
United States Magistrate Judge
Case: 3:25-cv-00388-MJN-MRM Doc #: 14 Filed: 03/12/26 Page: 2 of 2 PAGEID #: <pageID>