Whether the lower courts violated this Court's precedent in Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322 (2003), by collapsing the certificate-of-appealability threshold inquiry into a merits determination and denying review of substantial constitutional claims where reasonable jurists could debate (1) whether trial counsel's misrepresentations rendered Petitioner's plea unknowing and involuntary, and (2) whether counsel's failure to explain the Sentencing Guidelines and "relevant-conduct" principles constituted ineffective assistance under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984).

Whether the lower courts violated Miller-El precedent by collapsing threshold inquiry into merits determination and denying review of substantial constitutional claims regarding plea voluntariness and ineffective assistance of counsel