Christopher C. Little v. Jacqueline Crawford Frankie Sue Del Papa

Christopher Little, a Nevada state prisoner, appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . Little challenges his plea to two counts of sexual assault on a minor under fourteen. He is now serving two consecutive life terms with the possibility of parole.

Little claims that: (1) he suffered ineffective assistance of counsel; (2) he was impaired by medications when he entered his plea and his counsel failed to investigate and inform the court of the same; (3) his plea was not knowing and voluntary; (4) he was denied counsel at a contested hearing in juvenile court; and (5) the Nevada Supreme Court violated his equal protection rights by failing to apply its existing case law to him. The district court found claim (1) was procedurally barred from review, and denied the remaining claims on the merits.

The district court then certified claim (5) — Little’s equal protection claim — for appeal and denied Certificate of Appeala-bility as to the remaining claims. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 2258, and affirm. Because reasonable jurists would not find the district court’s assessment of Little’s uncertified…