Ricky L. Wilcox v. Frank X. Hopkins, Warden, Nebraska State Penitentiary

LOKEN, Circuit Judge.

In September 1995, Ricky L. Wilcox exchanged gunfire with two police officers in the corridor outside his apartment in Kearney, Nebraska. The State charged him with two counts of attempted second-degree murder, two counts of using a weapon to commit a felony, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and being a habitual criminal. Some months later, Wilcox pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of using a weapon to commit a felony. After the state courts affirmed the conviction on direct appeal and rejected Wilcox’s petition for…