DISCLAIMER: The following unofficial case summaries are prepared by the clerk's office
as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.
032103P.pdf 04/04/2005 Terrick T. Nooner v. Larry Norris
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 03-2103
Eastern District of Arkansas
Prisoner case - habeas. While the district court did not err in finding
Nooner had the ability to understand his request to withdraw his habeas
petition, it did err in finding that his decision to withdraw the petition
was knowing and voluntary, as Nooner believed, however, irrationally, that
withdrawing his petition would lead to his release rather than his
execution on his capital murder conviction. Application of Arkansas's
victim impact evidence statute does not violate the ex post facto clause
as it does not alter the state's burden of proof or increase the potential
penalty faced by a defendant; victim impact statement statute is not void
for vagueness; claims of ineffective assistance of counsel alleging
counsel failed to develop and present mitigating evidence at sentencing
rejected. District court's alternative holding dismissing the petition for
habeas corpus on the merits is affirmed. Judge Lay, Concurring in part
and Dissenting in part. Judge Bye, Dissenting in part and Concurring in
part.
[PUBLISHED] [Wollman, Author, with Lay and Bye, Circuit Judges]