Ward v. Norris, No. 05-4381

In a capital murder case, district court's rulings denying defendant a writ of habeas corpus and denying his motion for relief from judgment and motion to alter or amend the judgment are affirmed where: 1) defendant's motions, in substance, comprise a claim of ineffective or incompetent representation by federal habeas counsel, and the Antiterrorism Death Penalty Act specifically prohibits such grounds for relief; 2) defendant's claims on appeal concerning ineffective assistance of counsel represented an impermissible broadening of claims to include federal bases before both the state courts and the district court; and 3) defendant's claim that the trial court's disparate treatment of the defense counsel's requests to approach the bench deprived him of a fair trial failed as rulings on those requests did not reflect actual or presumed bias rising to the level of a constitutional violation or structural error.      

Read Ward v. Norris, No. 05-4381

Appellate Information

Submitted: September 24, 2008

Filed: August 24, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Wollman, Circuit Judge