Von Carruthers v. Mays

ROGERS, Circuit Judge.

Tony Von Carruthers appeals the district court's judgment denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. A Tennessee jury convicted Carruthers in 1996 of three counts of first-degree, premeditated murder and imposed a death sentence for each of the three murder convictions. The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals and the Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and sentences on direct appeal. After the state courts denied Carruthers postconviction relief, he filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus with the district court, arguing, among other things, that…