1. Whether the court of appeals improperly denied the Petitioner a certificate of appealability under 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c) on his claim that the state court's denial of his ineffective assistance of counsel claims – premised on a finding that the Petitioner was not prejudiced by the ineffectiveness – was based on an unreasonable application of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984).

2. Whether a freestanding claim of actual innocence is cognizable in a 28 U.S.C. § 2254 proceeding.

Whether the court of appeals improperly denied the Petitioner a certificate of appealability under 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c) on his ineffective assistance of counsel claim based on an unreasonable application of Strickland v. Washington