Ray Dansby v. Dexter Payne, No. 19-3006 (8th Cir. 2022)
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Defendant was convicted by an Arkansas jury on two counts of capital murder and sentenced to death. After the district court denied his second amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus, the Eighth Circuit vacated the dismissal of two claims and remanded for further proceedings. On remand, the district court denied Defendant's petition with respect to his conviction but granted relief with respect to his
sentence of death, imposing a sentence of life imprisonment. Both sides appealed.
On appeal, the Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's order affirming Defendant's conviction; however, the court reversed the district court's grant of relief. The Eighth Circuit explained that the Arkansas Supreme Court's decision concerning the scope of cross-examination of a government witness did not contravene or unreasonably apply Supreme Court precedent by concluding that the balance struck by the trial court was permissible under the Sixth Amendment, and his Confrontation Clause claim did not merit relief. Defendant's other claims were procedurally barred and Defendant did not show cause of prejudice to overcome the default.
Court Description: [Colloton, Author, with Grasz and Kobes, Circuit Judges] Prisoner case - Habeas - Death Penalty. For the court's prior opinion vacating dismissal of two of Dansby's claims and remanding the matter for further consideration, see Dansby v. Hobbs, 766 F.3d 809 (8th Cir. 2014). On remand, the district court denied relief with respect to Dansby's murder convictions, but granted relief from the death sentence and ordered the state to stipulate to a sentence of life imprisonment. Both sides appeal. The Arkansas Supreme Court's decision concerning the scope of cross-examination of a government witness did not contravene or unreasonably apply Supreme Court precedent by concluding that the balance struck by the trial court was permissible under the Sixth Amendment, and Dansby's Confrontation Clause claim did not merit relief; with respect to Dansby's Brady claim, the claim is procedurally defaulted, and Dansby showed neither cause nor prejudice to overcome the default; the grant of relief with respect to the sentence of death is reversed, and the case is remanded with directions to dismiss Dansby's second amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
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