Merrill Arnes Jacobs v. Dave Dormire

MURPHY, Circuit Judge.

Merrill Jacobs was convicted in Missouri of three counts of sale of a controlled substance and filed this petition for habeas relief. Four issues were raised in his petition which was denied by the district court. 1 The court granted a certificate of appealability on two issues: whether the state court erred in overruling his objection during voir dire to a question by the prosecutor dealing with proof beyond a reasonable doubt and whether his appellate counsel was ineffective for not raising a claim that his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury was violated. We…