Gary Moawad v. James v. Anderson, Superintendent, Mississippi State Penitentiary Michael Moore, Attorney General of the State of Mississippi

PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judge:

Moawad petitions us for habeas relief from his state convictions for murder and aggravated assault. Moawad’s primary claim is that he was denied effective assistance of counsel at trial and on appeal. His focus is a failure to object to a jury instruction regarding presumed malice deemed improper under Mississippi law. We affirm the district court’s denial of relief.

I

Moawad and Kathleen married in 1965. In 1975, Kathleen filed for divorce. On November 13, 1975, Moawad and his youngest son, Paul, one of their three children, went to the Tubbs’s family…