Derrick Brown v. Christopher Epps, Commissioner, e

PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judge:

A government informant set up a controlled drug deal with two unidentified men. Their conversations were recorded and admitted into evidence at the petitioner’s trial in state court. He was convicted. The Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the conviction, concluding that the conversations were not hearsay and did not violate the petitioner’s rights under the Confrontation Clause. Subsequently, the petitioner successfully pursued collateral relief in federal district court. We hold that the unidentified men’s recorded statements were not testimonial, and…