whether-the-tenth-circuit-violated-the-antiterrorism-and-effective-death-penalty-act

QUESTION PRESENTED In 2012, an Oklahoma jury convicted Alonzo Cortez Johnson of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced him to life in prison in relation to the murder-for-hire plot against Tulsa businessman, Neal Sweeney. On direct appeal, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (“OCCA”) rejected a cursory two-page claim predicated upon Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), finding that Johnson failed to establish purposeful discrimination on behalf of the State during jury selection. In 2021, on habeas proceedings, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reviewed a heavily supplemented version of Johnson’s Batson claim. Relying upon an argument Johnson never made to the OCCA on direct appeal to reach de novo review, and substituting its own judgment for that of the OCCA, the Tenth Circuit reversed and remanded, finding that the OCCA rejected Johnson’s Batson claim based upon “an unreasonable determination of the facts” and “an unreasonable application of’ Batson. THE QUESTON PRESENTED Is: Whether the Tenth Circuit violated the backwardlooking nature of § 2254(d) of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 and the clear mandates announced by this Court in Sexton v. Beaudreaux, 138 8.Ct. 2555, 2560 (2018) (per curiam), Cullen v. Pinholster, 563 U.S. 170, 181 (2011), and Harrington v. Richter, 562 U.S. 86, 102 (2011), when it considered—and based its ultimate decision upon— an argument Johnson never made to the OCCA on direct appeal. ii LIST OF PROCEEDINGS United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Case No. 19-5091 Johnson v. Martin Judgment entered on July 2, 2021 United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma Case No. 16-CV-433-JED-FHM Johnson v. Martin Judgment entered on September 17, 2019 Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Case No. PC-2015-923 Johnson v. State of Oklahoma Mandate issued on April 7, 2016 Tulsa County District Court Case No. CF-2009-2738 Johnson v. State of Oklahoma Judgment entered on October 6, 2015 Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Case No. F-2013-173 Johnson v. State of Oklahoma Mandate issued on July 17, 2014 iii Tulsa County District Court Case No. CF-2009-2738 State of Oklahoma v. Johnson Judgments and Sentences entered January 4, 2013