David Graves v. D. Sisto

MEMORANDUM

David Michael Graves appeals from a judgment of the district court denying his two petitions for writs of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . This court granted a certificate of appealability on three issues arising out of one of those petitions: (1) whether the prosecutor distorted the judicial fact-finding process by denying immunity to defense witness John Hinkley and/or threatening him with prosecution, thereby violating Graves’s due process rights; (2) whether the trial court’s failure to make an adequate inquiry into Hinkley’s invocation of his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination violated Graves’s due process and Sixth Amendment rights; and (3) whether the district court abused its discretion by denying an evidentiary hearing on these claims. We affirm.

I.

The state courts addressed Graves’s claim that the prosecutor should have granted Hinkley immunity on the merits. Therefore, our review is governed by § 2254(d), and we may grant habeas relief only if the state court’s decision “was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States,” or “was…