Richard Joseph, Petitioner-Appellant/cross-Appellee v. Ralph Coyle, Warden, Respondent-Appellee/cross-Appellant

OPINION

KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge.

An Ohio jury convicted Richard Joseph of aggravated murder. The jury also convicted Joseph of a single capital specification, which made him eligible for the death penalty, and, after a mitigation hearing, recommended a sentence of death. The trial court accepted this recommendation and imposed the death penalty, which was upheld on direct and state post-conviction review. Asserting twenty grounds for relief, Joseph petitioned the district court for a writ of habeas corpus. The district court granted the writ on four grounds relating to a fundamental…