Wall v. Booker, et al

*Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 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this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except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 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
July 16, 2004
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 03-60875
Summary Calendar
JEROME MAURICE WALL,
Petitioner-Appellant,
versus
WALTER BOOKER, Superintendent of Mississippi
State Penitentiary; CHRISTOPHER B. EPPS,
Commissioner, Mississippi Department of
Corrections,
Respondents-Appellees.
Appeals from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Mississippi
USDC No. 2:00-CV-16-P-A
Before JOLLY, JONES and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Jerome Maurice Wall appeals the district court’s denial
of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition. A certificate of appealability
was granted for the issue of whether the imposition of
Mississippi’s habitual offender statute was proper where Wall’s
service of one prior sentence was interrupted by an interstate
transfer between jails. Wall contends that the evidence was

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insufficient to sentence him under the habitual offender statute
and that his counsel ineffectively failed to challenge the
imposition. Wall also asserts that the district court erroneously
failed to hold an evidentiary hearing.
This court must defer to the determination implicit in
the denial of state habeas corpus relief that the interruption did
not vitiate the service of the sentence under state law. See Young
v. Dretke, 356 F.3d 616, 628 (5th Cir. 2004). That legal deter-
mination is dispositive of all of Wall’s constitutional claims.
Therefore, there was no factual dispute necessitating an
evidentiary hearing. See Ward v. Whitley, 21 F.3d 1355, 1367 (5th
Cir. 1994).
AFFIRMED.

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