Maxwell D. White, Jr. v. Betty Mitchell, Warden

OPINION

GIBBONS, Circuit Judge.

In 1996, an Ohio state jury convicted Maxwell D. White, Jr. of aggravated murder with two death penalty specifications, having a weapon while under a disability and abduction. White was sentenced to death. White sought a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court. The district court denied the petition in its entirety. The district court granted a certificate of appealability on two claims: (1) whether one of the seated jurors lacked sufficient impartiality to serve on the jury; and (2) whether prosecutorial theatrics denied White a fundamentally fair trial.…