Chanthakoummane v.Stephens, No. 15-70007 (5th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CasePetitioner, convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death, seeks a certificate of appealability (COA) to challenge the district court’s dismissal of his federal petition on two grounds: (1) his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to sufficiently investigate, develop, and present mitigating evidence and (2) his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge whether the murder was committed during the commission of a robbery. The court concluded that, on each of the grounds raised by petitioner, the record does not reflect that his trial counsel’s representation fell below the standard of diligence required. Nonetheless, petitioner failed to demonstrate that counsel's performance prejudiced him. Because petitioner has failed to raise a debatable question as to the effectiveness of either his trial counsel or state habeas counsel, he has neither shown that the court should consider his unexhausted claim nor that reasonable jurists could debate the merits of his underlying argument. Accordingly, the court denied the application for a COA.
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