Kenneth Norman Smith v. Donald Wyrick

Kenneth Norman Smith appeals from the district court’s 1 denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, 538 F.Supp. 1017. Smith contends he received ineffective assistance of appellate counsel when he appealed his first degree robbery conviction to the Missouri Court of Appeals. In Smith’s view, his counsel should have (1) raised as plain error the trial court’s failure to instruct the jury on the intoxication defense, and (2) argued that Smith was entitled to discharge when the state failed to rebut the special defense of intoxication. The district court…