Stevens v. Epps

E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge:

Benny Joe Stevens was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for the 1998 murders of four people in Mississippi. The district court granted a certificate of appealability (“COA”) for Stevens’s claim that the prosecutor peremptorily struck a black prospective juror because of her race. Stevens has requested an expansion of the COA for his claim that the state post-conviction process was so ineffective that it violated his right to due process. We AFFIRM the district court’s denial of habeas relief and DENY Stevens’s request to expand the COA.

I

Stevens…