Bryan v. Bobby, No. 15-3778 (6th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseIn 1995, Bryan was convicted of attempted robbery. After being paroled in 1998, Bryan was indicted for theft. Arrest warrants issued. In 2000, when Bryan stopped at a gas station, officer Leon pulled behind him, saw that Bryan’s temporary tag had been altered, and took Bryan’s driver’s license to run a check. When Leon radioed the police station, Bryan shot the officer in the face. Officer Leon died instantly. Bryan fled. Niedhammer, who owned a private security agency, heard the shooting, saw the officer lying on the ground. and saw a white Pontiac Grand Prix “erratically leave the gas station almost running into people.” Niedhammer activated his siren and lights and gave chase. Twice, Bryan stopped his car, got out, and fired at Niedhammer. Both times Niedhammer returned fire. Eventually, Bryan lost control, crashed, fled on foot, and threw his handgun into a dumpster. He was arrested that same day. A jury convicted Bryan of aggravated murder and attempted murder with firearm specifications and death-penalty specifications, plus carrying a concealed weapon, carrying a firearm as a convicted felon, and tampering with evidence. The trial court sentenced Bryan to death and 33½ years. Bryan unsuccessfully sought relief on direct appeal and in state post-conviction proceedings. Bryan timely sought federal habeas relief with 16 claims. The court granted relief on his Batson claim. The Sixth Circuit remanded for dismissal. The district court correctly denied claims concerning: specific jurors, alleged prosecutorial misconduct, ineffective assistance of counsel, lethal injection, and an allegedly unconstitutional death-penalty scheme. The court incorrectly granted relief on the Batson claim, failing to properly defer to the state court’s ruling.
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