Ward v. Norris

WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge.

Bruce Earl Ward was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. After exhausting his state court remedies, Ward petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus un*928der 28 U.S.C. § 2254, arguing, among other things, that he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel at the guilt phase of his trial. The district court1 denied , his petition and granted a certificate of appealability to this court to determine whether counsel was ineffective for failing to seek the recusal of the state court trial judge. While that appeal was pending, Ward’s…