Andrew Sasser v. Ray Hobbs

RILEY, Chief Judge.

We consider Andrew Sasser’s death penalty appeal for the third time. After an Arkansas jury sentenced Sasser to death in 1994 for capital murder, he lost his Arkansas direct appeal in 1995 and his effort to obtain postconviction relief in Ar kansas state court in 1999. See Sasser v. State, 338 Ark. 375, 993 S.W.2d 901, 903 (1999) (per curiam) (Sasser 1999); Sasser v. State, 321 Ark. 438, 902 S.W.2d 773, 774, 779 (1995) (Sasser 1995). In 2000, Sasser filed the federal habeas petition from which this appeal arises. The district court dismissed the petition, but granted Sasser…