1) Was the Eighth Circuit's summary denial of Mr. True's application for a certificate of appealability based upon an adjudication of the underlying merits, made without jurisdiction in violation of 28 U.S.C. § 2253, and Filler v. Council, 587 U.S. 322, 123 S. Ct. 1024, 154 L.Ed.2d 431 (2003), and what standard did the court employ in its analysis of the application for certificate of appealability?

2) Did the Eighth Circuit err when it denied Mr. True a certificate of appealability on his claim that his plea was not voluntary or intelligent, where the record did not disclose that he voluntarily and intelligently entered a plea of guilty, such record being required by both State and Federal law and precedent?

3) Could reasonable jurists debate whether or not Mr. True received the ineffective assistance of counsel under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, where trial counsel: 1) failed to conduct a thorough investigation and form a viable theory of defense; 2) failed to request a pre-plea mental health evaluation and competency determination; and 3) withheld discovery materials which included potentially exculpatory forensic information favorable to Mr. True, and instead pressured him to plead guilty?

4) Should the Eighth Circuit be required to reference in its secondary to the issuance of a certificate of appealability where issue for a certificate of appealability application?

Whether the Eighth Circuit's summary denial of Mr. True's application for a certificate of appealability was based on an adjudication of the underlying merits without jurisdiction