Licho Escamilla v. William Stephens, Director

JAMES L. DENNIS, Circuit Judge:

Licho Escamilla seeks a certificate of appealability (“COA”) to appeal the district court’s denial of his habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, claiming that he was deprived his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel when his trial attorneys failed to adequately investigate and present mitigation evidence at the punishment phase of his capital murder trial. He additionally asserts that Martinez v. Ryan, — U.S. —, 132 S.Ct. 1309, 182 L.Ed.2d 272 (2012) compels the federal habeas court to consider newly presented evidence that was never…