Adanandus v. Johnson

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 96-50798 DWIGHT DWAYNE ADANANDUS, Petitioner-Appellant, versus GARY JOHNSON, Director, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, INSTITUTIONAL DIVISION, Respondent-Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court For the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division (SA 95-CA-415) April 7, 1997 Before JOLLY, DUHÉ, and WIENER, Circuit Judges. WIENER, Circuit Judge:* Petitioner-Appellant Dwight Dwayne Adanandus, a Texas death row inmate, appeals the district court’s judgment denying his * Pursuant to Local Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in Local Rule 47.5.4. petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The district court issued a certificate of appealability (COA) on October 18, 1996, granting Adanandus permission to appeal two issues: (1) whether his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance, and (2) whether the trial court violated Adanandus’s constitutional rights by refusing to submit instructions on lesser included offenses to the jury. Even if we were empowered to review Adanandus’s habeas petition de novo, we would be inclined to affirm the conclusions reached by the district court in its lengthy, thorough, and thoughtful opinion, rejecting Adanandus’s federal habeas petition.