Dennis Wayne Smith v. Louie L. Wainwright, Secretary of Florida Department of Offender Rehabilitation

JAMES C. HILL, Circuit Judge:

Dennis Wayne Smith appeals to this court from the order of the district court denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. We affirm the district court’s judgment in part; however, concluding that Smith should have received a hearing on some of his claims of constitutional error, we vacate in part and remand.

Smith was tried and convicted in a Florida court on one count of first degree murder in late March, 1976. After a sentencing hearing, the trial judge sentenced Smith to death. Smith appealed to the Florida Supreme Court, which affirmed his conviction in…