Bland v. Sirmons

McCONNELL, Circuit Judge.

Jimmy Dale Bland, an inmate on death row in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Mr. Bland was convicted of one count of first-degree malice-aforethought murder. The jury found the existence of two aggravating factors and recommended that he be sentenced to death. The trial court adopted the jury’s recommendation, and the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed. Bland v. State, 4 P.3d 702, 709 (Okla.Crim. App.2000). The state courts denied his requests…