Norman v. Stephens, No. 15-70034 (5th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CasePetitioner appealed the district court's denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus based on two claims of ineffective assistance of counsel (IAC). The court denied petitioner's application for a certificate of appealability and request for an evidentiary hearing. The court concluded that it need not decide whether it may grant an evidentiary hearing because petitioner cannot overcome the default of his underlying IAC claim. In this case, the district court may refuse an evidentiary hearing where there is not a factual dispute which, if resolved in the prisoner's favor, would entitle him to relief. Petitioner has been granted both time and funding to develop his IAC claim for failure to hire a neuropsychologist, but he still has been unable to adduce any favorable mitigating evidence.
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