Corcoran v. Wilson

This habeas case returns to us from the Supreme Court for a second time. See Wilson v. Corcoran, - U.S. -, 131 S.Ct. 13, 178 L.Ed.2d 276 (2010); Corcoran v. Levenhagen, — U.S.-, 130 S.Ct. 8, 175 L.Ed.2d 1 (2009). Joseph Corcoran’s capital case has a complex history in state and federal court, which we set forth more completely in our two prior opinions, see Corcoran v. Levenhagen, 593 F.3d 547 (7th Cir.2010), and Corcoran v. Buss, 551 F.3d 703 (7th Cir.2008), and will repeat here only as necessary to correct the mistakes the Supreme Court has identified and get the case back on track.

In 1997…