William Mitchell v. Christopher Epps, Commissioner, No. 10-70006 (5th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CasePetitioner was convicted and sentenced to death for capital murder where he was under a sentence of life imprisonment for a previous murder and had been on parole for approximately eleven months when he committed the capital murder. At issue was whether the court should grant petitioner a certificate of appealability ("COA") authorizing him to appeal the denial of his habeas relief regarding his claims for ineffective assistance of counsel during the guilt and sentencing phases of trial and his claim that he was mentally retarded and entitled to an evidentiary hearing on that issue. The court denied petitioner's request for a COA where the district court's decision denying relief on these claims was not debatable among reasonable jurists and petitioner's claims were not adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further.
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