Joe Willie Reed v. Larry Norris, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction

BEAM, Circuit Judge.

Joe Willie Reed, a prisoner in the custody of the State of Arkansas pursuant' to a conviction for rape and burglary, appeals from an order of the district court 1 denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. See Reed v. Norris, No. PB-C-95-699 (E.D.Ark. Jul. 31, 1998). This court granted a certificate of appealability on whether: (1) the State used its peremptory challenges in violation of the Equal Protection Clause as construed in Batson; (2) trial counsel was ineffective in not properly presenting the Batson challenge to the trial court; and…