Edward Smith, Jr. v. Steve W. Puckett, Superintendent of Mississippi State Penitentiary, Etc.

GARWOOD, Circuit Judge:

Petitioner-appellant Edward Smith, Jr. (Smith) appeals the denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. We affirm.

Facts and Proceedings Below

Smith is currently a prisoner in the Mississippi State Penitentiary serving a life sentence for murder. A jury found Smith guilty of fatally shooting James Jackson (Jackson) in 1981 as Jackson lay in a hospital intensive care unit suffering from gunshot wounds he had previously received. The Supreme Court of Mississippi affirmed the conviction. Smith v. State, 430 So.2d 406 (Miss.1983).

After exhausting…