Fifth Circuit: Michael Norris v. Lorie Davis, Director

AEDPA, Habeas

Circuit precedent at the time of conviction clearly established the need for a general mitigation instruction where there was evidence of good character.

Fleeting reference to federal claim in state Habeas petition did not exhaust the claim.

A series of smaller federal claims can't be accumulated into a viable, freestanding one.

Sufficient evidence.

No Strickland error where deft's lawyer elicits fact of prior convictions, doesn't preserve objection to admission of deft's statement to police.

Michael Norris v. Lorie Davis, Director