Full opinion text
KING, Circuit Judge: The opinion entered in this cause on December 23, 1997, is withdrawn, and the following opinion is substituted therefor. Alvin Urial Goodwin, a Texas death row inmate convicted of capital murder, challenges the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Goodwin has alleged, among other things, that his appellate counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance because he failed to raise a state law issue that would have required reversal on direct appeal. We affirm the district court’s denial of habeas relief on this claim because the trial court’s error that formed the basis of this omitted issue on appeal did not render Goodwin’s trial fundamentally unfair or its result unreliable. We also affirm the judgment of the district court denying relief in all other respects, except that we vacate that portion of the district court’s judgment denying Goodwin habeas relief on his Fifth Amendment claim and remand for an evidentiary hearing to resolve the fact issue underlying that claim. I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND On December 1,1986, Montgomery County Sheriffs deputies received a report of a theft at the trailer house of James Douglas Tiller-son. Further investigation revealed that Tillerson’s trailer house had been ransacked and that a VCR, some video cassettes, phonograph records, and a bayonet were missing from the house. Tillerson had not reported for work that morning and had not been seen since the previous Sunday. On January 17, 1987, trail riders discovered Tillerson’s body approximately two and one-half miles from his trailer at the edge of the woods near Fawnmist Road in Montgomery County. An examination of Tillerson’s body disclosed that he had béen dead for approximately one month and had died from a gun-shot wound to the head. A second gun-shot wound had been made by a bullet entering Tillerson’s right arm and exiting at the forearm. A bullet was recovered from the body’s clothing and fragments of a bullet were later discovered in the immediate area where the body had been found. Friends of Tillerson informed police that Tina Atkins, also a friend of the victim, had told them that a VCR, bayonet, and several video tapes from Tillerson’s trailer were now at the house where she lived with her father, Billy Dan Atkins, Sr. Tina Atkins was able to name the titles of the video tapes, which corresponded with the titles of the tapes missing from Tillerson’s trailer. Based on the information that she provided, a search warrant was issued for the residence of Billy Dan Atkins, Sr., who informed police that he had retrieved the items from the car of his son, Billy Dan Atkins, Jr. (Atkins). Further investigation revealed that Atkins, Goodwin, Glenn Dierr, and Fred Meadows had been arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon on December 4, 1986, in The Woodlands, Texas. Following the arrest, Dierr stated during a police interview that he had been walking in the woods near Huntsville, Texas with Goodwin on December 5 when Goodwin showed him a fence post into which Goodwin claimed he had fired several rounds of a .367 magnum pistol. Goodwin also told Dierr that he had “blown someone away” with the weapon five weeks earlier and that the body was still in the woods. Ballistics testing revealed that all of the projectiles and hulls recovered on or near Tillerson’s body were fired from a Smith & Wesson .357 magnum that had been found with Atkins, Goodwin, Dierr, and Meadows at the time of their arrest in The Woodlands. On January 20, 1987, Texas law enforcement officials were notified that Goodwin and Atkins had been arrested and were in custody in Burlington, Iowa. During an interview in Iowa on January 21, the Texas officers told Goodwin that they had found the weapon used to kill Tillerson and that it was the, same weapon taken from Atkins’s car on December 4, 1986. Goodwin then admitted to having shot Tillerson and gave a videotaped confession to that effect. Goodwin waived extradition and was flown back to Montgomery County that evening. The next morning, Texas law enforcement officials interviewed Goodwin in Montgomery County, and he later gave a written confession. According to Goodwin’s written confession, on the night of the murder, he and Atkins drove by Tillerson’s trailer between 8:00 and 1Q:00 p.m. Atkins and Goodwin had discussed the possibility of either obtaining a loan from Tillerson or robbing him. When Tillerson answered the door of his trailer home, Atkins and Goodwin entered and drew handguns. Atkins ordered Tillerson to sit down in a chair and demanded money. When Tillerson claimed that he had no mon: ey, Atkins ransacked the trailer. Unable to find more than some change, Atkins collected other items from the trailer. Atkins then ordered Tillerson to get dressed. Goodwin held his gun on Tillerson while Atkins loaded the items into his car. Atkins, Goodwin, and Tillerson left in Atkins’s car, with Atkins driving, Tillerson in the back seat, and Goodwin in the front seat, pointing his gun at Tillerson. Atkins eventually stopped near a wooded area where he ordered Tillerson to get out of the car and walk ahead of Atkins and Goodwin into the woods. Atkins raised his gun, aimed at Tillerson and pulled the trigger two or three times, but the weapon did not discharge. Goodwin raised his gun, turned his head, and fired at Tillerson. Till-erson fell to the ground screaming. Thinking that he had only grazed the victim, Goodwin quickly raised his weapon and fired a second shot. When Goodwin saw blood coming out of Tillerson’s head, he ran back'to Atkins’s car. > ' ■ II. PROCEDURAL POSTURE A Texas jury found Goodwin guilty of the murder of James Douglas Tillerson and sentenced Goodwin to death. . The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Goodwin’s conviction, see Goodwin v. State, 799 S.W.2d 719 (Tex.Crim.App.1990), and the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari, see Goodwin v. Texas, 501 U.S. 1259, 111 S.Ct. 2913, 115 L.Ed.2d 1076 (1991). Goodwin filed two petitions for writ of habeas corpus in state district court. The state district court declined to conduct an evidentiary hearing on either petition and recommended that both applications be denied. The state district court’s orders recommending the denial of the petitions contain no findings of fact or conclusions of law; they merely state that “the Court ... finds that there are no controverted, previously unresolved facts- material to the lawfulness of the confinement of applicant.” The Court of Criminal Appeals accepted the recommendation of the state district court as to both petitions and summarily denied relief without findings of fact or conclusions of law. On February 17, 1995, Goodwin filed a motion to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), a motion for appointment of counsel in federal district court, a motion for stay of execution pending the completion of discovery and the submission of a formal habeas petition, and a formal motion for discovery. Goodwin’s execution was scheduled for March 7, 1995. The district court granted the motions to proceed IFP and for appointment of counsel and denied the motions for stay and discovery. Soon thereafter, Goodwin filed his federal petition for habeas relief and . again filed motions for discovery, for a stay of execution pending the disposition of his habeas petition, and for an evidentiary hearing. The district court denied these motions. Goodwin appealed the denial of his second motion for a stay of execution, and we reversed the district court’s order denying the stay and ordered the district court to enter an order staying Goodwin’s execution pending determination of the merits of the claims presented in his federal habeas petition. The district court accordingly granted a stay.' Four days before Goodwin’s scheduled execution date, the state answered and filed a motion for summary judgment on all of Goodwin’s claims. Goodwin filed a cross-motion for partial summary judgment limited to his claim that his legal representation on direct appeal was unconstitutionally ineffective because his counsel failed to raise a meritorious claim that was properly preserved at trial. The district court denied Goodwin’s habeas petition, explaining its decision in a memorandum opinion. The district court also denied Goodwin’s request for a certificate of probable cause to appeal (CPC) and lifted the stay of execution that it had previously imposed. Goodwin requested a CPC from this court to appeal the district court’s denial of his petition for habeas relief. We granted a stay of execution, carried the request for CPC with the case, directed the parties to fully brief the appeal as on the merits, and heard full oral argument. Having concluded that a portion of the issues that Goodwin raises on appeal “are debatable among jurists of reason,” we now grant the CPC and rule on the merits of the appeal. See Barefoot v. Estelle, 463 U.S. 880, 893 n. 4, 103 S.Ct. 3383, 3395 n. 4, 77 L.Ed.2d 1090 (1983) (internal quotation marks omitted); Woods v. Johnson, 75 F.3d 1017, 1026 n. 12 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 117 S.Ct. 150, 136 L.Ed.2d 96 (1996). III. STANDARD OF REVIEW The district court did not state that it was granting the state’s motion ' for summary judgment when it denied Goodwin’s habeas petition. However, the district court’s reference to documents outside of Goodwin’s ha-beas petition demonstrates that the court implicitly granted the motion. See Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(c) (providing that the summary judgment procedures of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 are applicable if matters outside the pleadings are presented to, and not excluded by, the court). “We review a grant of summary judgment de novo, applying the same criteria used by the district court in the first instance.” Texas 'Manufactured Housing Ass’n v. City of Nederland, 101 F.3d 1095, 1099 (5th Cir. 1996), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 117 S.Ct. 2497, 138 L.Ed.2d 1003 (1997). “Summary judgment is appropriate if the record is devoid of a genuine issue of material fact.” Harris v. Johnson, 81 F.3d 535, 539 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 116 S.Ct. 1863, 134 L.Ed.2d 961 (1996) (applying summary judgment standard in § 2254 case where habeas petitioner requested a CPC and a stay of execution). In determining whether a genuine issue of material fact exists, we consider the facts contained in the summary judgment record and the reasonable, inferences drawn from them in the light most favorable to Goodwin, as he is the non-movant. See id. TV. ANALYSIS Goodwin posits five arguments for reversal of the district court’s judgment denying ha-beas'relief: (1) Goodwin’s appellate counsel rendered unconstitutionally ineffective assistance by failing to raise on appeal the trial court’s refusal to give the jury a requested instruction pursuant to article 38.23 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and by failing to provide the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals with a complete transcript of the suppression hearing to review in evaluating Goodwin’s direct appeal; (2) he is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on his claim that his confessions were inadmissible at trial because Texas law enforcement officials obtained them in violation of the judicially created rules established to safeguard his Fifth Amendment privilege against compelled self-incrimination; (3) he is entitled to an eviden-tiary hearing on his claims that the state intentionally withheld from him exculpatory impeachment evidence and knowingly introduced false testimony during trial; (4) he was constitutionally entitled to funds with which to hire a rehabilitation expert to testify at the punishment phase of his trial; and (5) section 8.04(a) of the Texas Penal Code, which prevents voluntary intoxication from serving as a defense to the commission of a crime, unconstitutionally restricted the jury’s consideration of evidence of Goodwin’s intoxication that would have given him a defense to the specific intent element of capital murder and prohibited the trial court from submitting a constitutionally required lesser-included offense instruction on murder. . We address each of these arguments in turn. A. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel on Direct Appeal Goodwin argues that his appellate counsel rendered unconstitutionally ineffective assistance by (1) failing to raise on appeal the trial court’s refusal to grant Goodwin’s request to amend the jury instruction given pursuant to article 38.23 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and (2) failing to provide the Court of Criminal Appeals with a complete transcript of the pretrial suppression hearing. A criminal defendant is constitutionally entitled to the effective assistance of counsel on direct appeal as of right. See Lombard v. Lynaugh, 868 F.2d 1475, 1479 (5th Cir.1989). In Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), the Supreme Court held that, in order to prove that counsel afforded unconstitutionally ineffective assistance, a petitioner must show that his attorney’s performance vvas deficient and that such deficiency prejudiced the defense. Id. at 687, 104 S.Ct. at 2064. The Strickland standard applies to claims of ineffective assistance by both trial and appellate counsel. See United States v. Merida, 985 F.2d 198, 202 (5th Cir.1993). Goodwin has failed to demonstrate that he received unconstitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel on appeal because he has not demonstrated that any deficiency in his counsel’s, performance resulted in prejudice. 1. Failure to raise issue on appeal Goodwin argues that his appellate counsel’s performance was both deficient and prejudicial because he failed to raise on appeal the trial court’s refusal to instruct the jury pursuant- to article. 38.23 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure that, if it had a reasonable doubt as to the legality of the traffic stop in The Woodlands that led to the arrest of Atkins, Goodwin, Dierr, and Meadows and the seizure of the murder weapon, then it should not consider Goodwin’s confessions, which would not have occurred but for the illegal stop. Article 38.23 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure provides in relevant part as follows: No evidence obtained by an officer or other person in violation of any provisions" of the Constitution or laws of the State of Texas, or of the Constitution or laws of the United States of America, shall be admitted in evidence against the accused on the trial of. any criminal case. In any case where the legal evidence raises an issue hereunder, the jury shall be instructed that if it believes, or has a reasonable doubt, that the evidence was obtained in violation of the provisions of this Article, then and in such event, the jury shall disregard any such evidence so obtained. Tex.Crim.PROC.Code Ann. art. 38.23 (Vernon Supp.1998). The record in this case evinces a fact question bearing upon the legality of the stop. Montgomery County Sheriffs Deputy Daniel Torres, the officer who arrested the occupants of the car. in which Goodwin was a passenger, testified at trial that he stopped the car because Atkins, the driver of the car, failed to use a turn signal while leaving the area. Glen Dierr, one of Goodwin’s fellow passengers, testified that Atkins used his turn signal. During a search incident to the stop of the ear, officers discovered several weapons in the car, including the .357 magnum that was later identified as the weapon used to kill Tillerson. On January 20, 1987, Texas Ranger Stanley Oldham and Montgomery County Sheriffs Detective Tracy Peterson traveled to Burlington, Iowa, where Goodwin and Atkins were in custody on an unrelated matter, to execute a warrant on Atkins regarding the Tillerson murder and to interview the two men. When Peterson and Oldham interviewed Goodwin on January 21, they informed him that they had recovered what appeared to be the murder weapon used to kill Tillerson and that it was the same weapon taken from Atkins’s car on December 4. After hearing this information, Goodwin said, “I’m twenty-three years old and sitting on death row.” When Oldham informed him that this was not necessarily true, Goodwin said he knew it would be true because he had pulled the trigger. Peterson and Oldham then obtained a videotaped confession to the murder from Goodwin. Later that day, Old-ham and Peterson escorted Goodwin back to Texas, arriving at 9:00 p.m. The next morning, Peterson obtained a written confession from Goodwin. At trial, the jury received the following instruction regarding its duty to disregard illegally obtained evidence: You are instructed that our law provides that no evidence obtained from an accused in violation of the Constitution or laws of this state or of the United States nor evidence derived from the use of such evidence may be considered against him in his trial. A peace officer may stop and detain a person for any offense committed within his presence or within his view. Failure to signal a turn is an offense. A peace officer may also temporarily detain a person for the purpose of investigating possible criminal behavior when he has specific and articulable facts which, in light of his experience and personal knowledge taken together with rational inferences from those facts, would constitute a reasonable suspicion that some crime has been or is about to be committed. Where the facts relied upon by the police officer in temporarily detaining a person are as consistent with innocent activity as with criminal activity, a detention based on those facts is unlawful. You are therefore instructed that if you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, when Deputy Daniel Torres stopped and detained the vehicle and the occupants of the vehicle in which the defendant was a passenger that the driver failed to signal a turn, or that Deputy Torres, at the time of the stop and detention of the vehicle and its occupants, had specific and articulable facts which, in light of his experience and personal knowledge taken together with rational inferences from those facts, would constitute a reasonable suspicion that some crime had been or was about to be committed, then you may consider the weapons and other items seized from said vehicle, and any testimony relating to their seizure, testing by firearms examiners, or identification as the murder weapon. Unless you so find beyond a reasonable doubt, or if you have a reasonable doubt thereof, you will not consider for any purpose the weapons and other items seized from said vehicle, and any testimony relating to their seizure, testing by firearms examiners, or identification as the murder weapon. Defense counsel requested that the words “and the confessions of the accused” be added at the end of the last two paragraphs on the ground that any illegality in the underlying search that uncovered the .357 magnum would have tainted Goodwin’s confessions. The trial court denied counsel’s request. Goodwin was entitled to an article 38.23 instruction if the trial evidence raised a factual issue concerning whether evidence was obtained in violation of the U.S. Constitution, other federal law, the Texas Constitution, or other Texas law. See Tex.CRIM.Proc. Code Ann. § 38.23 (Vernon Supp.1998); Thomas v. State, 723 S.W.2d 696, 707 (Tex.Crim.App.1986). Because the conflicting trial testimony created a fact issue concerning Torres’s right to stop the vehicle, the trial court appropriately granted an article 38.23 instruction with respect to the murder weapon. See Stone v. State, 703 S.W.2d 652, 655 (Tex.Crim.App.1986) (holding that a fact issue arose concerning a peace officer’s right to stop a vehicle due to conflicting testimony between the officer, who stated he stopped the appellant’s vehicle for erratic driving, and the testimony of the appellant and another witness that the appellant was driving in a prudent manner). We assume without deciding that Goodwin’s confessions were not sufficiently attenuated from the traffic stop so as to render any illegality of the traffic stop irrelevant to the admissibility of the confessions. In other words, we assume without deciding that Goodwin was entitled to an article 38.23 jury instruction regarding his confessions because, in the event that the traffic stop was illegal, the confessions were tainted by such illegality. We likewise as- sume that the trial court’s refusal to provide the requested article 38.23 instruction would have required reversal of Goodwin’s conviction on direct appeal and a new trial. Assuming that the trial court’s refusal to provide the requested article 38.23 instruction would have entitled Goodwin to reversal of his conviction on direct appeal, Goodwin nonetheless cannot establish that the failure of his appellate counsel to raise this issue on direct appeal resulted in prejudice. “The essence of an ineffective assistance claim is that counsel’s unprofessional errors so upset the adversarial balance between defense and prosecution that the trial was rendered unfair and the verdict rendered suspect.” Kimmelman v. Morrison, 477 U.S. 365, 374, 106 S.Ct. 2574, 2582, 91 L.Ed.2d 305 (1986). We are convinced that the trial court’s failure to provide the jury with an article 38.23 instruction regarding Goodwin’s confessions in no way rendered the trial unfair or the verdict suspect. As such, the failure of Goodwin’s appellate counsel to present this issue on direct appeal was not prejudicial because it did not “undermine! ] the reliability of the result of the proceeding.” Strickland, 466 U.S. at 693, 104 S.Ct. at 2067. Prior to trial, Goodwin moved to suppress his confessions on the ground that they were tainted by the illégal stop and search of Atkins’s automobile in The Woodlands. He based this motion in part on the argument that Atkins had not failed to use his turn signal and thus that no basis existed for the stop. The state district court denied the motion to suppress and specifically found that Atkins had not used his turn signal. Because Goodwin alleges no defect in this fact-finding or the procedure used at the suppression hearing to obtain it, we accord the court’s conclusion that Atkins did not use his blinker a presumption of correctness. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d) (1994); Harris, 81 F.3d at 539. Goodwin has not argued that any factual issues other than the issue of whether Atkins used his turn signal bear upon the legality of the traffic stop and the subsequent search that resulted in the discovery and seizure of the murder weapon. Goodwin does not dispute that the traffic stop was perfectly legal if in fact Atkins failed to use his blinker, nor can he do so. So long as a traffic law infraction that would have objectively justified the stop had taken place, the fact that the police officer may have made the stop for a reason other than the occurrence of the traffic infraction is irrelevant for purposes of the Fourth Amendment and comparable Texas law. See Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, -, 116 S.Ct. 1769, 1774, 135 L.Ed.2d 89 (1996) (concluding that a “pretextual” traffic stop for a minor-traffic infraction was constitutional because “ ‘the fact that the officer does not have the state of mind which is hypothecated by the reasons which provide the legal justification for the officer’s action does not invalidate the action taken as long as the circumstances, viewed objectively, justify that action’” (quoting Scott v. United States, 436 U.S. 128, 138, 98 S.Ct. 1717, 1723, 56 L.Ed.2d 168 (1978))); Crittenden v. State, 899 S.W.2d 668, 674 (Tex.Crim.App.1995) (“[A]n objectively valid traffic stop is not unlawful under Article I, § 9 [of the Texas Constitution, a provision analogous to the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution], just because the detaining officer had some ulterior motive for making it.”). Because the state district court concluded that the state established by a preponderance of the evidence that Atkins did not use his blinker, the introduction of Goodwin’s confessions was fully consistent with the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule. See United'States v. Chavis, 48 F.3d 871, 872 (5th Cir.1995) (holding that the state bears the burden of proving that a warrantless stop and search is reasonable in order for evidence obtained therefrom to be admissible); United States v. Finefrock, 668 F.2d 1168, 1170 (10th Cir.1982) (holding that the government must prove the reasonableness of a warrantless search or seizure by a preponderance of the evidence); United States v. Collins, 863 F.Supp. 165, 169 n. 2 (S.D.N.Y.1994) (“[T]he government must show by a preponderance of the evidence that the war-rantless search does not contravene the Fourth Amendment.”); cf. United States v. Matlock, 415 U.S. 164,178 n. 14, 94 S.Ct. 988, 996 n. 14, 39 L.Ed.2d 242 (1974) (“[T]he controlling burden of proof at suppression hearings should impose no greater burden than proof by a preponderance of the evidence.”). We simply cannot conclude that the trial court’s failure to give the jury an opportunity to wholly disregard the confessions if it believed, or had a reasonable doubt, that they were obtained unlawfully — after the court had in effect found during the pretrial suppression hearing by a preponderance of the evidence that the confessions were obtained in compliance with the Fourth Amendment and analogous Texas law — rendered “the result of the trial unreliable or the proceeding fundamentally unfair.” Lockhart v. Fretwell, 506 U.S. 364, 372, 113 S.Ct. 838, 844, 122 L.Ed.2d 180 (1993). Indeed, had the trial court given the requested article 38.23 instruction in this ease, the reliability of the trial may very well have decreased. As the Supreme Court noted in Stone v. Powell, 428 U.S. 465, 96 S.Ct. 3037, 49 L.Ed.2d 1067 (1976), application of the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule “deflects the truthfinding process and often frees the guilty” by excluding “rehable and ... probative information bearing on the guilt or innocence' of the defendant.” Id. at 490, 96 S.Ct. at 3050. The Texas exclusionary rule has an even greater propensity for deflecting the truth-finding process of the trial when applied to evidence arguably obtained through an illegal search or seizure because it requires the'jury to disregard such evidence, regardless of how probative, if the jury “believes, or has a reasonable doubt, that the evidence” was unlawfully obtained. Tex.Crim.PRo&Code Ann. § 38.23(a) (Vernon Supp.1998). Thus, the failure of Goodwin’s appellate counsel to raise this issue on appeal was not unconstitutionally prejudicial. Goodwin contends that he has established Strickland prejudice if “there is a ‘reasonable probability* that the omitted article 38.23 instruction claim would have caused a reversal on direct appeal had it been raised by [his] appellate counsel.” We disagree. As an initial matter, the Supreme Court has indicated that “an analysis focusing solely on mere outcome determination, without attention to whether the result of the proceeding was fundamentally unfair or unreliable, is defective.” Fretwell, 506 U.S. at 369, 113 S.Ct. at 842. Furthermore, the law of the Supreme Court and this circuit lead us to conclude that the presence or absence of prejudice, both with respect to claims of ineffective assistance of counsel at the trial and appellate levels, hinges upon the fairness of the trial and the reliability of the judgment of conviction resulting therefrom. In Evitts v. Lucey, 469 U.S. 387, 105 S.Ct. 830, 83 L.Ed.2d 821 (1985), the Supreme Court indicated that a criminal defendant’s right to effective assistance of counsel on his first appeal as of right stems from the fact that, when a state chooses to create appellate courts, appellate review becomes “‘an integral part of the ... system for finally adjudicating the guilt or innocence of a defendant.’ ” Id. at 393, 105 S.Ct. at 834 (quoting Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12, 18, 76 S.Ct. 585, 590, 100 L.Ed. 891 (1956)). The appellate process exists solely for the purpose of correcting errors that occurred at the trial court level. See id. at 396, 105 S.Ct. at 836 (“In bringing an appeal as of right from his conviction, a criminal defendant is attempting to demonstrate that the conviction, with its consequent drastic loss of liberty, is unlawful.”). As such, we conclude that the right to effective assistance of counsel, both at the trial and appellate level, “ ‘is recognized not for its own sake, but because of the effect that it has on the ability of the accused to receive a fair trial.’ ” Fretwell, 506 U.S. at 369, 113 S.Ct. at 842 (quoting United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648, 658, 104 S.Ct. 2039, 2046, 80 L.Ed.2d 657 (1984)). This court’s decision in Ricalday v. Procunier, 736 F.2d 203 (5th Cir.1984), supports our conclusion that the presence or absence of Strickland prejudice as a result of unconstitutionally deficient performance of counsel at either the trial or appellate level hinges upon the fairness of the trial and the reliability of its outcome. In Ricalday, the habeas petitioner’s counsel failed to object to the trial court’s instruction of the jury regarding an unindicted offense and did not raise this issue on appeal. See id. at 205. Pursuant to the Texas Penal Code’s definition of the offense of murder, the trial court instructed the jury that it could convict the petitioner of murder either if he “ ‘intentionally or knowingly cause[d] the death of an individual’ ” or if he “ ‘intended] to cause serious bodily injury and committed] an act clearly dangerous to human life that cause[d] the death of an individual.’” Id. (quoting Tex.Pen.Code Ann. § 19.02 (Vernon 1974)). However, the indictment only charged the petitioner with “intentionally or knowingly eaus[ing] the death of an individual.” Id. (alteration in original). Under Texás law, conviction of an unindicted offense constituted “fundamental” error requiring reversal. See id. at 207 (citing Bentacur v. State, 593 S.W.2d 686 (Tex.Crim.App.1980)). The court concluded that the failure of the petitioner’s counsel to object to the trial court’s inclusion of the unindicted offense in the jury charge was not prejudicial because there was “no reasonable probability that the factfinder would have had a reasonable doubt concerning the petitioner’s intent to kill.” Id. at 209. The court then rejected the habeas petitioner’s claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel: “Because the error at the appellate stage stemmed from the error at trial, if there was no prejudice from the trial error, there was also no prejudice from the appellate error.” Id. at 208. The court therefore concluded “that the proceedings were not fundamentally unfair and that their result, and the finding of guilt, are reliable.” Id. at 209 n. 6 (emphasis added). We have applied Ricalday’s sound analysis in other cases as well. See McCrae v. Blackburn, 793 F.2d 684, 688 (5th Cir.1986) (concluding that appellate counsel’s failure to raise an issue on appeal was not prejudicial because the petitioner could not demonstrate a reasonable probability that raising the issue would have ultimately resulted in the trial court’s imposition of a different sentence); Hamilton v. McCotter, 772 F.2d 171, 182 (5th Cir.1985) (rejecting a claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel because “the state record refiect[ed] that the proceedings were fundamentally fair, that their result and the finding of guilt are reliable, and that no breakdown of the adversarial process rendered them otherwise” (emphasis added)). Goodwin relies on Duhamel v. Collins, 955 F.2d 962 (5th Cir.1992) for the proposition that, “[ijn order to prove that his appellate attorney’s alleged error was prejudicial, [a federal habeas petitioner] must show that the neglected claim would have had a reasonable probability of success on appeal.” Id. at 967. While Goodwin does not rely upon it, we acknowledge that, in another Fifth Circuit case, Sharp v. Puckett, 930 F.2d 450 (5th Cir.1991), the court utilized a similar prejudice analysis in disposing of a habeas petitioner’s claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. See id. at 453 (“ ‘The [petitioner] must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s unprofessional errors, the result of the [appeal] would have been different.” (quoting Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. at 2068) (alterations in original)). We note as an initial matter that Duhamel and Sharp’s focus on the outcome of the appeal is inconsistent with the analysis advanced in Ricalday. We are therefore bound to follow Ricalday, an earlier panel decision, because “[i]t has long been a rule of this court that no panel of this circuit can overrule a decision previously made by another.” Ryals v. Estelle, 661 F.2d 904, 906 (5th Cir. Nov. 1981). Additionally, Duhamel and Sharp are both pre-Fretwell decisions. Fretwell makes clear that their limited focus on “mere outcome determination” at the appellate level is “defective.” Fretwell, 506 U.S. at 369, 113 S.Ct. at 842. Fretwell indicates that we must determine the presence or absence of prejudice based upon the fairness of the proceeding and the reliability of its result. See id. at 369, 113 S.Ct. at 842. To the extent that the appellate process is merely a vehicle for correcting errors at trial, the fairness and reliability of an appeal are necessarily functions of the fairness and reliability of the trial. Because the trial court’s refusal to provide the jury with an article 38.23 instruction regarding his confessions did not render Goodwin’s trial fundamentally unfair nor the conviction and sentence resulting therefrom unreliable, Goodwin was not prejudiced by his appellate counsel’s failure to raise this issue on appeal. Therefore, the district court properly concluded that he is not entitled to habeas relief on this claim. 2. Failure to provide entire record to appellate court Goodwin argues that he was denied a meaningful appeal due to his appellate counsel’s failure to provide the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals with a full'transcript of his pretrial suppression hearing to review on direct appeal. Goodwin’s appellate counsel apparently neglected to have two days of the suppression hearing transcribed and therefore did not supply the Court of Criminal Appeals with a complete transcript of the suppression hearing. The missing portion of the transcript contained the testimony of Atkins and Dierr indicating that Atkins had used his turn signal prior to the traffic stop in The Woodlands. Goodwin contends that his appellate counsel’s failure to submit a complete transcript of the pretrial suppression hearing violated his right to effective assistance of appellate counsel because the Court of Criminal Appeals was thereby precluded from reviewing all of the evidence pertaining to the legality of the traffic stop and the propriety of the trial court’s denial of Goodwin’s motion to suppress. We disagree. Under Texas law;, the trial court is the sole fact-finder and judge of the credibility of the witnesses as well as the weight to be given their testimony at a hearing on a motion to suppress. See Romero v. State, 800 S.W.2d 539, 543 (Tex.Crim.App.1990); Hawkins v. State, 628 S.W.2d 71, 75 (Tex.Crim.App.1982). Accordingly, the trial court may choose to believe or disbelieve any or all of a witness’s testimony. See Luckett v. State, 586 S.W.2d 524, 527 (Tex.Crim.App. 1979). On appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeals cannot disturb the trial court’s findings so long as they are supported by the record. See Green v. State, 615 S.W.2d 700, 707 (Tex.Crim.App.1980). If the Court of Criminal Appeals concludes that the record supports the trial court’s factual conclusions, its review is limited to a determination of “whether the trial court improperly applied the facts to the law.” Johnson v. State, 698 S.W.2d 154, 159 (Tex.Crim.App.1985). Even if the Court of Criminal Appeals had been privy to the testimony of Atkins and Dierr, it would have been compelled to accept the trial court’s determination that Atkins .failed to use his blinker because the record contained Officer Torres’s testimony to that effect. : The fact that the Court of Criminal Appeals might have considered the testimony of Atkins and Dierr more credible than that of Officer Torres would have been entirely irrelevant to the court’s review of the trial court’s denial of the motion to suppress. See Green, 615 S.W.2d at 707; Luckett, 586 S.W.2d at 527. Goodwin therefore cannot establish that his appellate counsel’s failure to provide the Court of Criminal Appeals with a full transcript of the suppression hearing in any way prejudiced him. Accordingly, he has not demonstrated that he is entitled to habeas relief on this basis. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687,104 S.Ct. at 2064. B. Violation of Judicially Created Safeguards of the Fifth Amendment Privilege Against Self-Incrimination Goodwin argues that the district court erred by failing to conduct an evidentiary hearing on his claim that the admission of his confessions as evidence at trial violated the judicially created rules established to safeguard his Fifth Amendment privilege against compelled self-incrimination. In support of his claim, Goodwin offers his affidavit, which states that, shortly after he was arrested in Burlington, Iowa, Goodwin told police that he did not wish to answer any questions in the absence of counsel. Goodwin contends that his confessions were therefore inadmissible at trial because they are the product of interrogation initiated by Texas law enforcement officials after Goodwin’s request for the assistance of counsel during custodial interrogation. 1. Exhaustion of state remedies and procedural default doctrine The district court appears to have based its denial of this portion of Goodwin’s petition for habeas relief on its belief that Goodwin did not assert the claim in state court. The district court’s opinion states the following: This is not a proper complaint for habe-as corpus review. Goodwin’s affidavit eomes seven years after the incident. He was uniquely aware of the alleged mistreatment before trial and should have informed his attorney then. This issue could have been litigated at the trial and is, therefore, inappropriate to raise here for the first time. The district court mistakenly concluded that Goodwin asserted his current Fifth Amendment claim for the first time in his federal habeas petition. Goodwin presented the Fifth Amendment argument that he now asserts for the first time in his second state habeas petition. Therefore, he has not failed to exhaust his state remedies with respect to this claim, and the state conceded as much at the district court level. See Nobles v. Johnson, 127 F.3d 409, 420 (5th Cir.1997) (“To have exhausted his state remedies, a habeas petitioner must have fairly presented the substance of his claim to the state courts.”). Moreover, the state has not argued, either at the district court level or on appeal, that Goodwin’s Fifth Amendment claim is procedurally barred on the basis that he failed to present the claim until his second state habeas petition or on any other basis. In' its response to Goodwin’s second state habeas petition, the state likewise did not argue that Goodwin had procedurally defaulted his claim by failing to assert it earlier. Given that the state has not seen fit to argue in this court, the district court, or even its own courts that Goodwin’s Fifth Amendment claim is procedurally defaulted, we would advance no interest in federalism or'comity by raising the issue ourselves. We therefore decline to do so and proceed to the merits of Goodwin’s Fifth Amendment claim. See Trest v. Cain, — U.S.-,-, 118 S.Ct. 478, 480, 139 L.Ed.2d 444 (1997) (holding that a court of appeals reviewing a district court’s habeas corpus decision is not, required to raise sua sponte the petitioner’s potential procedural default). 2. Goodwin’s entitlement to an evidentiary hearing “When there is a ‘factual dispute, [that,] if resolved in the petitioner’s favor, would entitle [her] to relief and the state has not afforded the petitioner a full and fair evidentiary hearing,’ a federal habeas corpus petitioner is entitled to discovery and an evidentiary hearing.” Perillo v. Johnson, 79 F.3d 441, 444 (5th Cir.1996) (quoting Ward v. Whitley, 21 F.3d 1355, 1367 (5th Cir.1994)) (alterations in original). We conclude that Goodwin has satisfied the above standard and is therefore entitled to an evidentiary hearing to resolve the factual issue of whether Goodwin informed the Burlington police upon being taken to the Burlington police station that he did not wish to be interrogated in the absence of counsel. If Goodwin so informed the Burlington police, then his confessions later obtained through interrogation initiated by Texas law enforcement officers were inadmissible on Fifth Amendment grounds, and the admission of those confessions was not harmless error. We further conclude that the fact-finding procedure utilized by the state district court in resolving this factual issue was inadequate to afford Goodwin a full and fair hearing. As such, Goodwin is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on his Fifth Amendment claim. a. Fifth Amendment law The Fifth Amendment guarantees that “[n]o person ... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” U.S. Const. amend. V. The Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination is “protected by the Fourteenth Amendment against abridgment by the States.” Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1, 6, 84 S.Ct. 1489, 1492, 12 L.Ed.2d 653 (1964). In Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), the Supreme Court observed that “the right to have counsel present ... [during custodial] interrogation is indispensable to the protection of the Fifth Amendment privilege.” Id. at 469, 86 S.Ct. at 1625. In order to fully safeguard the privilege, the Court held that, “[i]f the individual [under interrogation] states that he wants an attorney, the interrogation must cease until an attorney is present.” Id. at 474, 86 S.Ct. at 1628. As a corollary to the prophylactic rule adopted in Miranda, the Court held in Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981), that, once the accused asserts this Fifth Amendment right to counsel and thereby “expressed] his desire to deal with the police only through counsel, [he] is not subject to further interrogation by the authorities until counsel has been made available to him, unless the accused himself initiates further communication, exchanges, or conversations with the police.” Id. at 484-85, 101 S.Ct. at 1884-85; see also United States v. Carpenter, 963 F.2d 736, 739 (5th Cir.1992). “If the police do subsequently initiate an encounter in the absence of counsel (assuming there has been no break in custody), the suspect’s statements are presumed involuntary and therefore inadmissible as substantive evidence at trial, even where the suspect executes a waiver and his statements would be considered voluntary under traditional standards.” McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U.S. 171, 177, 111 S.Ct. 2204, 2208, 115 L.Ed.2d 158 (1991). In Arizona v. Roberson, 486 U.S. 675, 108 S.Ct. 2093, 100 L.Ed.2d 704 (1988), the Court made clear that the Edwards rule is not offense specific. See id. at 682-84, 108 S.Ct. 2098-2100; see also McNeil, 501 U.S. at 177, 111 S.Ct. at 2208; Carpenter, 963 F.2d at 739. Once a suspect invokes his Fifth Amendment right to counsel with respect to one offense, law enforcement officials may not reapproach him regarding any offense unless counsel is present. See McNeil, 501 U.S. at 177, 111 S.Ct. at 2208; Roberson, 486 U.S. at 682-84, 687, 108 S.Ct. at 2098-2100, 2101; Carpenter, 963 F.2d at 739; United States v. Cooper, 949 F.2d 737, 741 (5th Cir.1991). This is true even when different law enforcement authorities who may be unaware of the suspect’s prior invocation of his Fifth Amendment right to counsel reapproach the suspect regarding a different offense. See Roberson, 486 U.S. at 687, 108 S.Ct. at 2101 (“[W]e attach no significance to the fact that the officer who conducted the second interrogation did not know that respondent had made a request for counsel.”); Minnick v. Mississippi, 498 U.S. 146, 148-49, 155, 111 S.Ct. 486, 488-89, 112 L.Ed.2d 489 (1990) (holding that statements of the petitioner derived from reinitiation of custodial interrogation by a county deputy sheriff were inadmissible because the petitioner had previously invoked his Fifth Amendment right to counsel during interrogation by FBI agents); Cooper, 949 F.2d at 741 (“Because the Fifth Amendment right is not offense specific, the Edwards rule applies even when the interrogation is based on different offenses or is conducted by different law enforcement authorities.”); cf. United States v. Webb, 755 F.2d 382, 389-90 (5th Cir.1985) (holding that FBI agents obtained the defendant’s confession in violation of Edwards where the defendant had previously invoked his right to counsel and a state official erroneously informed the FBI that the defendant had on his own initiative requested the opportunity to make a statement to FBI agents). Proper application of the above legal principles to Goodwin’s Fifth Amendment claim requires a synopsis of the factual circumstances surrounding the confessions that Goodwin made at the behest of Texas law enforcement officers. On January 17, 1987, Goodwin was arrested in Burlington, Iowa for first degree burglary and going armed with intent. Burlington police officers took Goodwin to the Burlington police station, where he was held in custody through January 21. On January 21, Texas law enforcement officials interviewed Goodwin. During the interview, Goodwin signed a waiver of rights form, and subsequently provided the Texas law enforcement authorities with a videotaped confession. That evening, Goodwin flew back to Texas in the custody of Texas law enforcement officials. The next morning, Texas law enforcement officials brought Goodwin before a magistrate who issued a magistrate’s warning and set Goodwin’s bond. A law enforcement officer later read Goodwin his rights again, and Goodwin again agreed to waive them. He then provided a written confession. He also made incriminating oral statements identifying the bayonet stolen from Tillerson and the gun used by Atkins during the robbery and murder. Goodwin contends that he invoked his Fifth Amendment right to counsel following his arrest in Burlington. In support of this contention, he offers his own affidavit, which he submitted along with his federal habeas petition and his second state habeas petition. Goodwin’s affidavit states that, shortly after his arrest, a Burlington police officer asked Goodwin to sign a form waiving his Miranda rights. According to his affidavit, Goodwin refused to do so and informed the officer that he did not wish to answer any questions outside the presence of an attorney. If what Goodwin states in his affidavit is true, his subsequent purported waivers of this Fifth Amendment right to counsel prior to interrogation by Texas authorities were presumptively invalid even though the Texas authorities informed Goodwin of his Miranda rights prior to each waiver, and his confessions would be inadmissible on this basis, See Roberson, 486 U.S. at 682-84, 687, 108 S.Ct. at 2098-99, 2101; United States v. Cruz, 22 F.3d 96, 98 (5th Cir.1994) (‘“[A] valid waiver of that right [to have counsel present during custodial interrogation] cannot be established by showing only that [the accused] responded to further police-initiated custodial interrogation even if [the accused] has been advised of his rights.’” (quoting Edwards, 451 U.S. at 484, 101 S.Ct. at 1884)) (all alterations except second in original). b. Harmless error Although admission of Goodwin’s confessions constituted constitutional error under the factual scenario advanced by Goodwin, such error cannot provide a ground for habe-as relief, and thus cannot provide a basis for an evidentiary hearing, if the error was harmless. See Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. 619, 622-28, 113 S.Ct. 1710, 1713-14, 123 L.Ed.2d 353 (1993) (observing that habeas relief need not be granted when constitutional error is harmless); Perillo, 79 F.3d at 444 (noting that an evidentiary hearing is required only if the petitioner establishes the existence of “a factual dispute, that, if resolved in the petitioner’s favor, would entitle her to relief'’ (internal quotation marks and brackets omitted)). The Supreme Court has held that “trial error” — that is, error that “‘oceurfs] during the presentation of the case to the jury’ ” — “is amenable to harmless-error analysis because it ‘may ... be quantitatively assessed in the context of other evidence presented in order to determine [the effect it had on the trial].’ ” See Brecht, 507 U.S. at 629, 113 S.Ct. at 1716 (quoting Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 307-08, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 1263-64, 113 L.Ed.2d.302 (1991)) (alterations in original). The admission of confessions obtained in violation of Edwards and its progeny constitutes trial error, and is therefore amenable to harmless error analysis. See United States v. Cannon, 981 F.2d 785, 789 n. 3 (5th Cir.1993) (“A harmless-error analysis may be performed to examine the effect of an Edwards violation.”); United States v. Webb, 755 F.2d 382, 392 (5th Cir. 1985) (applying harmless-error analysis to statements admitted in violation of Edwards ). The harmless-error standard applicable in conducting habeas review requires the granting of habeas relief on the basis of constitutional trial error only if the error “ ‘had substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury’s verdict.’” Brecht, 507 U.S. at 620, 113 S.Ct. at 1712 (quoting Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 776, 66 S.Ct. 1239, 1253, 90 L.Ed. 1557 (1946)). If in fact Goodwin invoked his Fifth Amendment right to counsel upon his arrival at the Burlington police station, then, the state district court improperly admitted Goodwin’s videotaped confession, his written confession, and his incriminating statements identifying the bayonet stolen from Tillerson and the gun used by Atkins during the robbery and murder. We are convinced that the admission of this evidence, if improper, “had substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury’s verdict.” Id. at 623, 113 S.Ct. at 1713 (internal quotation marks omitted). While the state presented a substantial amount of other evidence against Goodwin, including the testimony of Dierr that Goodwin told him that he shot someone in the woods and ammunition found at the site of Goodwin’s confession to Dierr that was fired from the murder weapon, Goodwin’s statements doubtless had a tremendous impact on the jury. Goodwin’s written confession lengthily recounts how he and Atkins held Tillerson at gunpoint while they searched Tillerson’s trailer for money, how they began taking items from the trailer, how they drank all of Tillerson’s beer while they were there, how they made Tillerson get dressed and go with them in Atkins’s car to the woods, and how Goodwin killed Tillerson. Goodwin’s videotaped confession contains similar factual detail. Moreover, Goodwin’s statements identifying the weapon used by Atkins and the bayonet stolen from Tillerson are highly probative of his guilt. “A confession is like no other evidence.” Fulminante, 499 U.S. at 296, 111 S.Ct. at 1267. It “is probably the most probative and damaging' evidence that can be admitted against [a criminal defendant].” Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 139, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 1629, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968) (White, J., dissenting). “"While some statements by a defendant may concern isolated aspects of the crime or may be incriminating only when linked to other evidence, a full confession in which the defendant discloses the motive for and means of the crime may tempt the jury to rely upon that evidence alone in reaching its decision.” Fulminante, 499 U.S. at 296, 111 S.Ct. at 1257. The possibility that the jury focused solely on Goodwin’s confessions in this case is enhanced by the fact that the prosecution stated in closing argument that Goodwin’s confessions were the “only evidence” that Goodwin killed Tillerson “in the course of committing kidnapping [or] robbery,” a fact that the state had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt in order to support Goodwin’s conviction for capital murder. See Tex.Pen.Code Ann. § 19.03(a)(2) (Vernon 1994). We therefore cannot say that the state district court’s admission of -Goodwin’s two confessions, coupled with its admission of his other highly incriminating statements of identification, constituted harmless error. Because any error the state district court committed in admitting Goodwin’s confessions and other incriminating statements was not harmless, Goodwin has established the existence of a fact issue that, if resolved in' his favor, would entitle him to habeas relief. We turn now to the issue of whether the state court afforded him a full and fair hearing for the "resolution of this fact issue. 3. Full and fair hearing in state court As demonstrated above, if the factual dispute as to whether Goodwin ever invoked his Fifth Amendment right to counsel is resolved in Goodwin’s favor, he is entitled to habeas relief. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the state did not afford Goodwin a full and fair hearing on this factual issue and that he is therefore entitled to an evidentiary hearing in federal district court to resolve it. “There cannot even be the semblance of a full and fair hearing unless the state court actually reached and decided the issues of fact tendered by the defendant.” Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 313-14, 83 S.Ct. 745, 756-57, 9 L.Ed.2d 770 (1963). As such, when the state court did not resolve a fact issue that would entitle the petitioner to relief if resolved in his favor, the petitioner is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on the issue. See id. at 313, 83 S.Ct. at 756; Blackmon v. Scott, 22 F.3d 560, 567 & n. 28 (5th Cir.1994) (concluding that an evidentiary hearing on factual issues underlying a habeas petitioner’s federal claims was required because the state court made no fact-findings on the issues). In determining whether the state court reached the merits of a factual issue, the district court may, in appropriate circumstances, imply fact-findings from the state court’s disposition of a federal claim that turns on the factual issue. In Townsend, the Supreme Court observed: If the state court has decided the merits of the claim but has made no express findings, it may still be possible for the District Court to reconstruct the findings of the state trier of fact, either because his view of the facts is plain from his opinion or because of other indicia. Townsend, 372 U.S. at 314, 83 S.Ct. at 757. The Court went on to state that the coequal responsibilities of state and federal judges in the administration of federal constitutional law are such that we think the district judge may, in the ordinary case in which there has been no articulation, properly assume that the state trier of fact applied correct standards of federal law to the facts in the absence of evidence ... that there is reason to suspect that an incorrect standard was in fact applied. Id. at 314-15, 83 S.Ct. at 757-58; Dempsey v. Wainwright, 471 F.2d 604, 606 (5th Cir.1973) (“[I]f the state court did not articulate the constitutional standards applied, the district court may presume that the state court applied correct findings, in the absence of evidence that an incorrect standard was applied.”). In this case, neither the state district court nor the Court of Criminal Appeals made any express findings of fact regarding whether Goodwin requested the assistance of counsel during custodial interrogation when first taken to the Burlington police station. Furthermore, we conclude that neither court made any implicit fact-findings on this issue. In addressing Goodwin’s habeas petition, the state courts made no conclusions of law regarding Goodwin’s Fifth Amendment claim (or any of his other claims) from which we could infer a factual finding that Goodwin did not refuse police interrogation in the absence of an attorney when first taken to the Burlington police station. Rather, the district court recommended in a two-page order containing no legal analysis of Goodwin’s claims that Goodwin’s request for relief be denied, and the Court of Criminal Appeals accepted the recommendation in an even more summary fashion. A conclusion that the state courts’ summary denial of Goodwin’s petition for 'habeas corpus relief implies a finding that Goodwin never invoked his Fifth Amendment right to counsel finds no support in the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence and is contrary to this circuit’s treatment of implied fact-findings. In the circumstances in which the Supreme Court has held that a state court has made implied findings of fact, the state court’s written disposition of the claim in question has contained explicit conclusions of law. For example, in Marshall v. Lonberger, 459 U.S. 422, 103 S.Ct, 843, 74 L.Ed.2d 646 (1983), the Court determined that a state trial court’s legal conclusion that a criminal defendant’s guilty plea was admissible into evidence implied a factual determination that the defendant’s testimony that he had never been given an opportunity to review the indictment for the charged offense lacked credibility. The Court observed that “[t]he trial court’s ruling allowing the record of conviction to be admitted in evidence ... is tantamount to a refusal to believe the testimony of respondent.” Id. at 434, 103 S.Ct. at 850. However, the trial court’s ruling that the confession was admissible contained an express legal conclusion that “the defendant intelligently and voluntarily entered his plea of guilty.” Id. at 429, 103 S.Ct. at 847 (internal quotation marks omitted). Similarly, in LaVallee v. Delle Bose, 410 U.S. 690, 93 S.Ct. 1203, 35 L.Ed.2d 637 (1973), the court held that the trial court’s legal conclusion that a criminal defendant’s “confessions to the police and district attorney were, in all respects, voluntary and legally admissible in evidence at the trial” implied a fact-finding by the trial court that the defendant’s testimony that his confessions resulted from police coercion lacked credibility. Id. at 691, 93- S.Ct. at 1203. The Court stated, “Although it is true that the state trial court did not specifically articulate its credibility findings, it can scarcely be doubted from its written opinion that respondent’s factual contentions were resolved against him.” Id. at 692, 93 S.Ct. at 1204. In both of the above cases, the state court had made an express legal conclusion from which the reviewing federal court could accurately reconstruct the factual determinations that formed the basis of the state court’s legal conclusion. The case law of this circuit demonstrates that some indication of the legal basis for the state court’s denial of relief on a federal claim is generally necessary to support a conclusion that the state court has made an implied fact-finding as to a factual issue underlying the claim. In Armstead v. Scott, 37 F.3d 202 (5th Cir.1994), the habeas petitioner alleged that his defense counsel was unconstitutionally ineffective because he falsely promised the petitioner that his wife would receive probation if he pled guilty. See id. at 205. The state habeas court made no express findings of fact on this issue and merely denied relief. See id. at 208. This court held that the state court had made no fact-finding — express or implied — on this issue. See id. at 208-09. Likewise, in Blackmon v. Scott, 22 F.3d 560 (5th Cir.1994), we concluded that a habeas petitioner was entitled to an evidentiary hea