Phillip Stokes v. James v. Anderson, Superintendent, Mississippi State Penitentiary

EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judge:

A Mississippi state jury convicted Phillip Stokes of murder during the commission of a robbery; the court then sentenced him to life imprisonment. Stokes appealed, and the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed his conviction. Stokes v. State, 548 So.2d 118 (Miss. 1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1029, 110 S.Ct. 742, 107 L.Ed.2d 759 (1990).

After collateral appeals in state and federal court, Stokes filed a second petition for federal habeas relief, raising seventeen claims. A magistrate judge determined that nine of Stokes’ claims were procedurally barred, 1 some did…