Opinion ID: 3168557
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: Petitioner-Appellant James Chandler Ryder, an Oklahoma state prisoner who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, appeals from the district court’s denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. In a prior unpublished order, we granted a certificate of appealability on three issues: (1) whether the district court erred in denying Mr. Ryder a definite stay of his habeas proceedings based on his incompetency; (2) whether Mr. Ryder was incompetent to stand trial and whether the procedures employed by Oklahoma to assess his competency violated his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel; and (3) whether Mr. Ryder’s trial counsel was ineffective in failing to fully investigate his mental health and background as they related to competence to stand trial and his mitigation case at sentencing, and whether appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise the ineffective-assistance-of-trial-counsel claim. Applying the deferential standard required under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), we affirm the district court’s denial of Mr. Ryder’s petition for habeas relief. 2