Leamon White v. Don Roper

LOKEN, Circuit Judge.

Leamon White was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death by a Missouri state court in 1989. The Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed his conviction and sentence and the denial of state post-conviction relief. State v. White, 813 S.W.2d 862 (Mo. banc 1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1103, 112 S.Ct. 1193, 117 L.Ed.2d 434 (1992); State v. White, 873 S.W.2d 590 (Mo. banc 1994); White v. State, 939 S.W.2d 887 (Mo. banc), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 948, 118 S.Ct. 365, 139 L.Ed.2d 284 (1997). White then filed this petition for a federal writ of habeas corpus, which the…