Larry Wayne White v. Gary L. Johnson, Director, Texas Dept. Of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division

W. EUGENE DAVIS, Circuit Judge:

Petitioner White applies for a certificate of probable cause to appeal the district court’s denial of habeas relief. White claims that his pending execution will violate his eighth amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment and fourteenth amendment right to due process of law and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. We vacate our stay of White’s execution and deny White’s application for a certificate of probable cause.

I

In June 1979, White was convicted of the March 1, 1977 murder of Elizabeth St. John at her apartment house,…