330
Opinion of the Court
was troubled by some of the evidence adduced in the state-court proceedings. He, nevertheless, recommended, in deference to the state courts' acceptance of the prosecutors' race-neutral justifications for striking the potential jurors, that petitioner be denied relief. The United States District Court adopted the recommendation. Pursuant to § 2253, petitioner sought a COA from the District Court, and the application was denied. Petitioner renewed his request to the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and it also denied the COA.
The Court of Appeals noted that, under controlling habeas principles, a COA will issue " 'only if the applicant has made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.' " Miller-El v. Johnson, 261 F. 3d 445, 449 (2001) (quoting 28 U. S. C. § 2253(c)(2)). Citing our decision in Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U. S. 473 (2000), the court reasoned that "[a] petitioner makes a 'substantial showing' when he demonstrates that his petition involves issues which are debatable among jurists of reason, that another court could resolve the issues differently, or that the issues are adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further." 261 F. 3d, at 449. The Court of Appeals also interjected the requirements of 28 U. S. C. § 2254 into the COA determination: "As an appellate court reviewing a federal habeas petition, we are required by § 2254(d)(2) to presume the state court findings correct unless we determine that the findings result in a decision which is unreasonable in light of the evidence presented. And the unreasonableness, if any, must be established by clear and convincing evidence. See 28 U. S. C. § 2254(e)(1)." 261 F. 3d, at 451.
Applying this framework to petitioner's COA application, the Court of Appeals concluded "that the state court's findings are not unreasonable and that Miller-El has failed to present clear and convincing evidence to the contrary." Id., at 452. As a consequence, the court "determined that the state court's adjudication neither resulted in a decision that
Page: Index Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007