Smith v. Quarterman

CARL E. STEWART, Circuit Judge:

This appeal arises from the district court’s denial of Roy Gene Smith’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. A Texas jury convicted and sentenced Smith to death for the capital murder of James Whitmire. We granted Smith a certificate of appeala-bility (“COA”) on two issues: (1) whether trial counsel provided ineffective representation; and (2) whether the jury instructions given at the sentencing phase of his trial violated his constitutional rights pursuant to Penry v. Johnson, 532 U.S. 782, 121 S.Ct. 1910, 150 L.Ed.2d 9 (2001). Based on the following reasons,…