Robert Francis, Warden, Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center v. Eddie Spraggins

KRAVITCH, Circuit Judge:

Eddie Spraggins was convicted of murder and rape in a Georgia court and was sentenced to death on the murder conviction. The district court granted his petition for a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that he had been denied the effective assistance of counsel at trial. In this appeal, the state challenges the district court’s conclusions (1) that the procedural default doctrine of Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977), does not bar consideration of Spraggins’ ineffective assistance claim and (2) that Spraggins was denied the…