Garcia v. Stephens, No. 14-70035 (5th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CasePetitioner, convicted of capital murder, appealed the denial of his second habeas petition. Petitioner now requests a certificate of appealability (COA) from this court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2253(c)(1) to appeal the district court’s denial of relief. The court held that petitioner failed to exhaust state court remedies with regard to one of the Batson claims he now raises. To the extent petitioner’s remaining claims might be barred by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act's (AEDPA), 28 U.S.C. 2254(d), procedural strictures the court invoked the statutory discretion afforded it to decline to address that possibility and proceed to deny those claims on the merits. The court held that reasonable jurists could not debate the district court’s conclusions as to petitioner's remaining claims and accordingly denied the request for a COA.
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