context: Riggins filed a petition for habeas corpus in June 1998, claiming that the state courts' rejections of his ineffectiveness claim were "based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding.'^ Although Riggins argues his testimony was credible (and that there was no evidence presented during the state court evidentiary hearing contradicting his testimony), the state trial court was certainly entitled to disbelieve Riggins' self-serving testimony, as both the Supreme Court of Arkansas and the district court noted.
citation_a.signal: see
citation_a.identifier: 229 F.3d 724, 726
citation_a.parenthetical: "[T]he trier of fact is entitled to make the ultimate decision of whether testimony is to be believed."
citation_a.sentence: See Loeblein v. Dormire, 229 F.3d 724, 726 (8th Cir.2000) (“[T]he trier of fact is entitled to make the ultimate decision of whether testimony is to be believed.”); cf. Cuppett v. Duckworth, 8 F.3d 1132, 1139 (7th Cir.1993) (“[W]e have repeatedly held that self-serving statements by a defendant that his conviction was constitutionally infirm are insufficient to overcome the presumption of regularity accorded state convictions.”), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1180, 114 S.Ct. 1226, 127 L.Ed.2d 571 (1994).
citation_b.signal: cf.
citation_b.identifier: 8 F.3d 1132, 1139
citation_b.parenthetical: "[W]e have repeatedly held that self-serving statements by a defendant that his conviction was constitutionally infirm are insufficient to overcome the presumption of regularity accorded state convictions."
citation_b.sentence: See Loeblein v. Dormire, 229 F.3d 724, 726 (8th Cir.2000) (“[T]he trier of fact is entitled to make the ultimate decision of whether testimony is to be believed.”); cf. Cuppett v. Duckworth, 8 F.3d 1132, 1139 (7th Cir.1993) (“[W]e have repeatedly held that self-serving statements by a defendant that his conviction was constitutionally infirm are insufficient to overcome the presumption of regularity accorded state convictions.”), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1180, 114 S.Ct. 1226, 127 L.Ed.2d 571 (1994).