Linroy Bottoson v. Michael W. Moore, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, Respondent

ANDERSON, Chief Judge:

Linroy Bottoson was convicted of murder in the state courts of Florida and received a death sentence. The district court denied Bottoson’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. We granted a certificate of appealability to review: (1) whether Bottoson’s right to a reliable sentencing hearing was violated by the trial judge’s instruction that the jury could consider only statutory mitigating evidence, the Hitchcock v. Dugger, 481 U.S. 393, 107 S.Ct. 1821, 95 L.Ed.2d 347 (1987), issue; and (2) whether Bottoson was denied the constitutional right…