Derrick Booth v. Wendy Kelley, 882 F.3d 759

On Oct. 5, 2012, a Little Rock house fire originated in a bedroom clothing pile; no ignition source was found. Fire Marshal Ryan Baker investigated and concluded the fire involved human involvement.
The homeowner (Booth’s estranged wife) produced threatening text messages from Booth the same day, including one where Booth admitted breaking a glass dining table.
At trial, Fire Marshal Baker, qualified as an expert, testified the fire was caused by human involvement and stated he had "developed the defendant" as a suspect; defense counsel did not object.
Booth was convicted of arson, sentenced to 12 years, and state appeals/post-conviction relief were unsuccessful or procedurally defaulted.
In federal habeas proceedings, the district court excused the state-court procedural default under Martinez and held an evidentiary hearing; the magistrate issued a COA limited to whether counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge the marshal’s testimony that Booth was a suspect.
The district court (adopting the magistrate’s report) and the Eighth Circuit affirmed denial of habeas relief, finding no deficient performance or, alternatively, no prejudice given the circumstantial evidence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trial counsel was ineffective for not challenging expert testimony that Booth was a suspect	Counsel was ineffective for failing to object to Baker’s statement that he had developed Booth as a suspect, which allegedly exceeded permissible expert testimony	Baker’s statement did not assert causation and was a permissible investigative opinion; failing to object was not deficient and, in any event, not prejudicial	Counsel’s failure was not deficient; even assuming deficiency, no Strickland prejudice given other circumstantial evidence (affirmed)

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (two-prong ineffective-assistance standard: performance and prejudice)
Martinez v. Ryan, 566 U.S. 1 (2012) (procedural-default gateway for ineffective-assistance claims when state postconviction counsel was ineffective)
Weisgram v. Marley Co., 169 F.3d 514 (8th Cir. 1999) (fire investigator may offer origin/causation opinions but not unfounded speculation)
Brandt Distrib. Co. v. Fed. Ins. Co., 247 F.3d 822 (8th Cir. 2001) (expert should not usurp the jury’s role by testifying who caused the event)
New v. United States, 652 F.3d 949 (8th Cir. 2011) (standard of review for ineffective-assistance claims on habeas review)
Olesen v. Class, 164 F.3d 1096 (8th Cir. 1999) (prejudice requirement: result must be unreliable or proceeding fundamentally unfair)
Carter v. Hopkins, 151 F.3d 872 (8th Cir. 1998) (appellate review limited to issues in the certificate of appealability)
Smithey v. State, 602 S.W.2d 676 (Ark. 1980) (Arkansas evidence rules derived from federal rules; federal cases instruct Arkansas analysis)