United States Fourth Circuit

Denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus is affirmed in part where petitioner was not denied the effective assistance of counsel, but vacated where the state circuit court contravened his Sixth Amendment confrontation right by applying a per se rule restricting cross-examination of the prosecution's expert under a rape shield law.

Appellate Information

• Argued 12/04/2007
• Decided 04/07/2008
• Published 04/07/2008

Judges

• Before KING and SHEDD, Circuit Judges, and HENRY F. FLOYD, United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina, sitting by designation.

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:  William Jacob Watkins, Jr., Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice, Greenville, South Carolina, for Appellant.  Robert David Goldberg, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General of West Virginia, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellees.   ON BRIEF:  Darrell V. McGraw, Jr., Attorney General, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellees.