Grady Brinkley v. Marc Houk

OPINION

KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judge.

Grady Brinkley cut the throat of his 18 year-old girlfriend, Shantae Smith, and then called the local Greyhound Bus terminal and stole her ATM card while, or shortly after, she lay bleeding to death on her apartment floor. An Ohio jury convicted Brinkley of murder and recommended a sentence of death, which the trial court imposed. The Ohio Supreme Court thereafter affirmed Brinkley’s conviction and sentence, and the Ohio courts denied his petition for post-conviction relief. Brinkley later sought federal habeas relief, which the district court denied. We affirm.