081182P.pdf   12/16/2009  Jason McGehee  v.  Larry Norris
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  08-1182
                          and No:  08-1513
   U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas - Pine Bluff   
   [PUBLISHED] [Wollman, Author, with John R. Gibson and Murphy,
   Circuit Judges]
   Prisoner case - habeas. The district court erred in considering
   mitigation evidence which was not before the state courts; the Arkansas
   Supreme Court's decision rejecting McGehee's mitigation argument was
   not unreasonable or contrary to established law, and the district court
   erred in granting habeas relief on the ground that the state court
   improperly excluded certain mitigation evidence during the sentencing
   phase of defendant's death penalty prosecution; any error in excluding the
   evidence was harmless in light of the other mitigating evidence
   concerning McGehee's dysfunctional family background which was
   admitted and the overwhelming and horrific evidence of the crime;
   McGehee was not entitled to an Ake expert as he did not make an initial
   showing that his mental state was likely to be a significant factor at trial;
   claims that sentence was disproportionate and that the state relied on
   unconstitutional victim impact testimony are foreclosed by Eighth Circuit
   precedent and AEDPA; district court did not abuse its discretion in
   denying McGehee's request for an evidentiary hearing; grant of habeas
   relief reversed and case remanded with directions to dismiss the habeas
   petition.