Smith v. Dretke

CARL E. STEWART, Circuit Judge:

Petitioner-appellant Roy Gene Smith (“Smith”) was convicted in the Texas state courts and sentenced to death for the capi*271tal murder of James Whitmire. The district court denied Smith’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus and denied a certificate of appealability (COA) sua sponte. Smith now requests a COA from this court on three issues, (1) whether his trial counsel provided ineffective representation, (2) whether the jury instructions given at the sentencing phrase of his trial violated his constitutional rights pursuant to Penry v. Johnson,1 and (3) whether…