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FREDERICK JESSE HARRIS,
Petitioner-Appellant,
v.
GLENN HAEBERLIN, Warden,
Respondent-Appellee.


No. 05-5591

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Kentucky at Louisville.
No. 03-00754—John G. Heyburn II, Chief District Judge.
Argued: November 1, 2007
Decided and Filed: May 22, 2008
Before: BATCHELDER, COLE, and GRIFFIN, Circuit Judges.

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OPINION
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R. GUY COLE, JR., Circuit Judge. Petitioner-Appellant Frederick Harris, a Kentucky state prisoner, appeals the dismissal of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, filed under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, from the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. Harris invokes the case of Batson v. Kentucky to challenge the prosecution’s exercise of its peremptory strikes as race-based and therefore violative of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. Upon conducting the requisite Batson analysis, the state trial court rejected Harris’s claims.

After Harris’s conviction but prior to his appeal to the Supreme Court of Kentucky, the defense team discovered that the courtroom cameras had turned on and captured a private conversation among the prosecutorial team as it was discussing the exercise of its peremptory challenges. Notwithstanding this newly acquired evidence, the Supreme Court of Kentucky affirmed Harris’s conviction. Harris v. Kentucky, No. 1998-SC-0414-MR (Ky. Feb. 24, 2000) (unpublished). In his petition for federal habeas corpus relief, the district court also found no violation of Batson.

On appeal, Harris now argues that the district court erred in its application of the Anti- Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”) when it denied his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Specifically, Harris asserts that, in upholding the Supreme Court of Kentucky’s denial of his Batson challenges, the district court engaged in an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law and an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the newly discovered videotape evidence. For the following reasons, we VACATE the district court’s dismissal of Harris’s Batson claim and REMAND to the district court for a renewed Batson hearing in light of the after-acquired videotape evidence.


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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
RICKEY DONNEL SMITH,
Defendant-Appellant.


No. 07-1375

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Michigan at Flint.
No. 05-50062-001—Paul V. Gadola, District Judge.
Argued: April 28, 2008
Decided and Filed: May 22, 2008
Before: BATCHELDER and SUTTON, Circuit Judges; BARZILAY, Judge.

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OPINION
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SUTTON, Circuit Judge. Rickey Smith contends that the district court should have suppressed evidence that officers discovered in his residence while he was serving the last years of a 15-to-30-year sentence as a prisoner in a community residential home, which is to say he was living in a private home while connected to an electronic-monitoring device that ensured he never left the walls of the home without permission. Because the search was reasonable in view of Smith’s continuing prisoner status and in view of his knowledge that officers could search his living quarters as freely as they could search his prison cell and because the exclusionary rule does not apply to knock-and-announce violations, we affirm.


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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
WILLIAM MICHAEL BULLOCK,
Defendant-Appellant.


No. 07-5632

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Kentucky at London.
No. 06-00129—Karen K. Caldwell, District Judge.
Submitted: April 25, 2008
Decided and Filed: May 22, 2008
Before: SUHRHEINRICH, CLAY, and COOK, Circuit Judges.

_________________________
OPINION
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CLAY, Circuit Judge. Defendant William Michael Bullock (“Bullock”) appeals the 18 month sentence imposed by the district court following his guilty plea to possession of a firearm while subject to a domestic violence order, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8) (2000), on the basis of the district court’s alleged miscalculation of the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines (the “Guidelines”) range. In particular, Bullock challenges the district court’s application of a fourpoint offense level enhancement under § 2K2.1(b)(6) of the Guidelines. For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM the sentence imposed by the district court.


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JAMES CRAIG CRISTINI,
Petitioner-Appellee,
v.
KEN MCKEE,
Respondent-Appellant.


No. 06-1606

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit.
No. 01-74483—Denise Page Hood, District Judge.
Submitted: January 31, 2008
Decided and Filed: May 22, 2008
Before: DAUGHTREY and McKEAGUE, Circuit Judges; GWIN, District Judge.

_________________________
OPINION
_________________________

GWIN, District Judge. Respondent-Appellant Ken McKee, warden for Petitioner-Appellee James Craig Cristini, appeals an order from the district court conditionally granting Petitioner a writ of habeas corpus after finding prosecutorial misconduct. In this habeas action originally filed in the Eastern District of Michigan, Petitioner Cristini argued inter alia that the Michigan prosecutor improperly offered and argued other-acts evidence and that the prosecutor improperly commented on the credibility of defense witnesses. The district court agreed. On appeal, Warden McKee maintains that the prosecutor did not engage in misconduct and that, even if he did, the misconduct did not result in such prejudice as to warrant habeas relief.

For the reasons stated below, we REVERSE the district court.