Lantagne

MEMORANDUM **

Robert Lantagne appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 , regarding his state-court conviction for second-degree rape. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2253 , and we affirm the district court’s decision.

We previously granted a certificate of appealability (COA) on the issue whether the prosecutor’s closing argument regarding the meaning of reasonable doubt violated Lantagne’s due process rights and Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial The scope of the COA permits us to reach Lantagne’s arguments concerning the *753 prosecutor’s use of a jigsaw puzzle analogy to illustrate the concept of reasonable doubt.

We now certify for appeal the additional issue of whether the prosecutor violated Lantagne’s due process rights or Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial by improperly equating mere belief in a witness with belief beyond a reasonable doubt. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253 (c)(2) (requiring “a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right” to grant a COA); see also Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 , 120 S.Ct. 1595 , 146 L.Ed.2d 542 (2000) (elaborating on this standard); Schardt v. Payne, 414…