November 06th, 2019

US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions
Ramey v. Davis

Docket: 18-70034
Opinion Date: November 1, 2019
Judge: Stephen Andrew Higginson
Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

Petitioner, an inmate convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death, filed a federal petition for habeas corpus relief. After his petition was denied, he requested a certificate of appealability (COA), which was also denied. Petitioner then applied for a COA from the Fifth Circuit. The Fifth Circuit granted petitioner's COA on his Batson claim and Strickland guilt phase claim, holding that reasonable jurists could conclude that the issues presented were adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further. However, the court denied petitioner's application for a COA on his Strickland mitigation phase claim, holding that petitioner failed to show what more trial counsel could have done at the mitigation phase. Therefore, reasonable jurists would not debate the district court's decision to uphold the state court's reasoning.

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