United States Fifth Circuit

An application for a certificate of appealability, brought by an inmate on death row for the murder and sexual assault of a child, is denied where it was not an unreasonable application of the law by either state or federal courts to deny relief on claims regarding: 1) whether state officers coerced his confession by remaining silent after he had voluntarily taken a polygraph test; and 2) whether the constitution requires that states provide condemned prisoners with counsel who provide effective assistance in state habeas proceedings.

Appellate Information

• Decided 06/07/2007
• Published 06/07/2007

Judges

• PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judge:, Before HIGGINBOTHAM, BENAVIDES and DENNIS, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Fifth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Richard H. Burr, III, Burr & Welch, Christoper L. Tritico, Essmyer, Tritico & Rainey, Houston, TX, for Petitioner-Appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Katherine D. Hayes, Postconviction Litigation Div., Austin, TX, for Respondent-Appellee.