McCamey v. Epps

EDITH H. JONES, Chief Judge:

Following his conviction for a meth-related offense, Billy Allen McCamey exhausted his state remedies on claims that he did not knowingly and intelligently waive conflict-free counsel or an impartial jury. The federal magistrate judge, however, conducted its own evidentiary hearing and granted the writ. Based on our review of the state court proceedings alone, we reverse. This result is a function of the high hurdle for collateral review of a “claim that was adjudicated on the merits in state court” under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (“AEDPA”),…