Antonio Prophet v. Ralph Terry, Acting Warden
DueProcess FifthAmendment CriminalProcedure HabeasCorpus
Does a prosecutor's remarks violate the Constitution?
QUESTION(S) PRESENTED . 1. Does a prosecutor’s remarks made at trial asserting that a defendant used his “two years” of post-Miranda silence to tailor his trial testimony to his “review of the discovery” evidence violate the U.S. Constitution (or is the claim at the very least deserving of a COA), especially when considering that the defendant’s exculpatory story told at trial was first conveyed to others before his arrest and was then told to counsel immediately after his arrest and long before discovery evidence had been disclosed? 2. When a petitioner asserts a claim for habeas relief under AEDPA and cites the correct and controlling “clearly established” Supreme Court precedent in support thereof, does the lower court frustrate the efficacy and viability of the AEDPA as intended by Congress by refusing to apply said precedent when assessing the petitioner’s claim? 3. Does a prosecutor’s misconduct and closing remarks suggesting to a jury that if it acquits the defendant he will author and profit from the sell of a book written about the charged . .._ ofimes, and does a trial court’s misconduct and pretrial remark declaring a defendant “guilty,” _ ‘in any way violate the Constitution or infringe upon the presumption of innocence required / of a fair trial under our nation’s criminal jurisprudence; and should Brecht footnote 9 apply to such misconduct? 4. Is the right to effective counsel violated when counsel, inter alia, fails to object at trial to a prosecutorial assertion that the defendant tailored his trial testimony to the discovery evidence, especially when the attorney knows such an assertion to be false because the. defendant told the attorney the exact same version of events testified to at trial immediately after his arrest and long before discovery had been disclosed in the case? 5. Could reasonable jurists disagree with or find debatable the District Court’s assessment and summary dismissal of Petitioner’s § 2254 petition, and, if so, did the 4” Circuit Court of Appeals err in denying Petitioner a COA?