Bates v. Whitley

Norman Bates, proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief. We vacate the judgment of the district court and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I

Norman Bates, a prisoner at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana, is serving a life sentence after having been convicted by an Orleans Parish jury of the second-degree murder of Jack MeGraw in 1976. The relevant facts of the offense conduct have been detailed by this court in an earlier opinion denying Bates federal habeas relief. See…