Manuel Lee Runnels, Cross-Appellant v. Norman Hess, Warden, and the Attorney General of the State of Oklahoma, Cross-Appellees

I agree with much of the majority opinion, but I cannot agree with its interpretation of the effect of Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977), as applied to the problem before us. I would affirm the trial court’s grant of the writ of habeas corpus rather than remand for a hearing on whether the decision not to object to the prosecutor’s comments was deliberate and tactical.1

Habeas corpus in the federal courts has had a checkered development, particularly with regard to the availability of relief in cases in which state courts have refused to consider federal…