Rosales v. Dretke

W. EUGENE DAVIS, Circuit Judge:

Petitioner Mariano Rosales appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. Because we conclude that the procedural default applied by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to bar review of Rosales’ Batson 1 claim was not “firmly established and regularly followed” by that court, we vacate the district court’s dismissal of Rosales’ writ application and remand for further proceedings.

I

A

The Court of Criminal Appeals summarized the relevant facts of the crime in its opinion on direct appeal:

The evidence at guiltdnnocence shows that…