Terry J. Harrington v. Crispus Nix, Warden, Iowa State Penitentiary

Terry Harrington appeals the district court’s 1 denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

We briefly outline the relevant facts, which are contained in greater detail in the Iowa Supreme Court’s opinion in Harrington’s direct appeal, State v. Harrington, 284 N.W.2d 244 (Iowa 1979). On July 22, 1977, Harrington, Curtis McGhee, and Kevin Hughes drove from Omaha, Nebraska to Council Bluffs, Iowa, in order to steal a car. Id. at 245. Harrington, carrying a shotgun and joined by McGhee, entered an auto dealer’s lot; Hughes waited in the car. “Three or four minutes…