James G. Kappos v. Craig Hanks

CUDAHY, Circuit Judge.

James Kappos filed a petition for habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, in which he alleged that his murder conviction was obtained in violation of the Constitution. He raises four issues on appeal: the failure of the trial court to give a cautionary jury instruction, the failure of the prosecution to disclose the terms of a “bounty deal,” prose-cutorial misconduct and the submission of a jury instruction that, he alleges, improperly relieved the state of its burden of proof. 1

I

The evidence at trial established that Kap-pos hired David Hayes to kill his wife, Charlene…