James Long v. Larry Norris

United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT ___________ No. 07-2746 ___________ James Allen Long, * * Appellant, * * Appeal from the United States v. * District Court for the * Eastern District of Arkansas. Larry Norris, Director, Arkansas * Department of Correction, * [UNPUBLISHED] * Appellee. * ___________ Submitted: October 1, 2008 Filed: October 7, 2008 ___________ Before MURPHY, BYE, and BENTON, Circuit Judges. ___________ PER CURIAM. James Allen Long appeals the district court’s1 judgment dismissing his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition. The district court granted a certificate of appealability on two issues: (1) whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the way that the trial court handled the State’s challenge under Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 1 The Honorable J. Leon Holmes, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, adopting the revised findings and recommendations of the Honorable John F. Forster, Jr., United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas. (1986), and (2) whether counsel on direct appeal was ineffective for failing to argue that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object. Following our careful review of the record, the briefs, and the applicable law, we conclude the district court properly denied Long’s petition, for the reasons cited in the magistrate judge’s thorough report, adopted by the district court. Accordingly, we affirm. See 8th Cir. R. 47B. Long’s pro se motion is denied. ______________________________ -2-