Stanley Earl Wilson v. (Warden) C.E. Jones and the Attorney General of the State of Alabama

EDMONDSON, Circuit Judge:

A jury convicted Wilson of rape, sodomy, and kidnapping. 1 Alabama courts affirmed Wilson’s conviction on his direct appeal. Wilson filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in federal court, seeking relief under Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). After finding that Wilson had procedurally defaulted his Batson claim in state court, the district court held that Wilson failed to demonstrate cause for this default and prejudice from the alleged denial of his constitutional rights. See Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 97 S.Ct. 2497,…