David P. Pagtalunan v. George Galaza, Warden Thomas Maddock, Acting Director, California Department of Corrections

OPINION RAWLINSON, Circuit Judge.

Petitioner, David Pagtalunan (“Pagtalu-nan”) appeals from the district court’s second dismissal with prejudice of his habeas corpus petition. Pagtalunan asserts that the court abused its discretion on remand when it found that his objections to the magistrate judge’s Report and Recommendation offered no reasonable excuse for Pagtalunan’s delay. Based on its finding of inexcusable delay, the court dismissed Pagtalunan’s petition for failure to prosecute and for failure to comply with a court order. After balancing the relevant factors, we hold that the'district court did not abuse its discretion when it dismissed Pag-talunan’s habeas petition with prejudice.

STANDARD OF REVIEW We review for an abuse of discretion a district court’s dismissal for failure to comply with an order requiring submission of pleadings within a designated time. Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 963 F.2d 1258, 1260 (9th Cir.1992). The trial court’s dismissal will only be disturbed if there is “a definite and firm conviction that the court below committed a clear error of judgment in the [*641] conclusion it reached upon a weighing of the relevant factors.” Id. (citations omitted). If the magistrate judge did not engage in the preferred practice of explicitly addressing the relevant factors when contemplating dismissal, we may “review the record independently” to determine if the district court abused its discretion. Fer-dik, 963 F.2d at 1261.