Whether the Ninth Circuit erred in denying a certificate of appealability for alleged due process violations and federal habeas review issues

1. Whether the Ninth Circuit erred in denying a certificate of appealability where the petitioner alleged a violation of the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause pursuant to Hicks v. Oklahoma , 447 U.S. 343 (1980), based on the trial co urt’s arbitrary refusal to comply with a state statute which created a protected liberty interest? 2. Whether a certificate of appealability was warranted where the petitioner raised a substantial question as to a federal habeas court’s duty to review the legitimacy of a state’s invocation of a procedural rule subject to virtually unlimited discretion to preclude federal review of constitutional claims? 3. Whether the Ninth Circuit’s denial of a certifi cate of appealability was in error as reasonable jurists could debate that the state court’s application of Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.S. 307 (1978) was objec tively unreasonable where the conviction was necessarily based on speculative testimony and in disregard of clear and certain exculpatory evidence?