John C. Burns v. James A. Gammon and Jeremiah (Jay) Nixon, Attorney General, Missouri

RICHARD S. ARNOLD, Circuit Judge.

John C. Burns, a Missouri prisoner, brings this petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 for a writ of habeas corpus. He challenges his 1987 state-court convictions for attempted forcible rape, armed criminal action, and first-degree assault. Petitioner argues that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance in a number of ways, including not properly presenting evidence of mental impairment; that the prosecuting attorney was guilty of misconduct in his closing argument by falsely implying that Burns, by refusing to plead guilty, had subjected the victim of the…