William Mark Brockmeyer v. Terrie Wallace, Warden, et al.

Whether a federal court of appeals violates the 5th and 14th amendments by denying a Certificate of Appealability (“COA”) without engaging the petitioner’s substantial constitutional claims, contrary to the standard set forth in Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473 (2000), and Miller-El v. Cockrell U.S. 322 (2003)

Whether federal courts may defer under AEDPA to a state post-conviction court’s generalized finding of “overwhelming evidence of guilt” to deny habeas relief without conducting a constitutionally adequate prejudice or harmless-error analysis of a Sixth Amendment hearsay violation.

Whether the denial of a Certificate of Appealability that rests on merits-based reasoning forecloses relief where no court has adjudicated the petitioner’s constitutional claim under the correct prejudice framework.