Does the US Supreme Court have any authority to deny a motion for a writ of habeas corpus against convicted murderer Joseph Anselmo?

The government contends that each of Anselmo's federal constitutional claims is procedurally barred. We agree. We review the denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus independently, without deference to the district court's findings and conclusions. Weygandt v. Ducharme, 774 F.2d 1491, 1492 (9th Cir.1985).

A federal court will not consider the merits of a federal constitutional claim if a state's highest court has dismissed a collateral attack upon a criminal conviction based on an independent state procedural ground, unless cause and actual prejudice are shown. Murray v. Carrier, 477 U.S. 478, 492, 106 S.Ct. 2639, 2647, 91 L.Ed.2d 397 (1986).

Anselmo was found guilty in 1972 of murder in the first degree after trial in the

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