John Martin Connor v. Terrell D. Hutto

STEPHENSON, Circuit Judge.

This appeal concerns the precedential effect of a dismissal of a direct state criminal appeal by the United States Supreme Court for want of a substantial federal question. 1 We hold that such a dismissal is an actual adjudication for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 2244(c) that precludes subsequent federal habeas corpus relief. We further hold that such a dismissal constitutes a finding of insubstantiality that is, absent subsequent doctrinal developments to the contrary by the Supreme Court, binding on lower federal courts for purposes of three-judge court consideration…