United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit ____________________ No. 23-2880 RODNEY L. LASS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. JASON WELLS, Warden, Respondent-Appellee. ____________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. No. 2:21-cv-00578-WED — William E. Duffin, Magistrate Judge. ____________________

ARGUED MAY 13, 2024 — DECIDED JUNE 26, 2024 ____________________

Before SCUDDER, ST. EVE, and PRYOR, Circuit Judges. SCUDDER, Circuit Judge. After Rodney Lass’s state court trial on charges of misdemeanor domestic abuse ended in a mistrial, prosecutors recharged the case and, the second time around, added multiple felony counts. The second case ended in a guilty verdict on all but one charge, leaving Lass to pur- sue relief on direct appeal, in state post-conviction proceed- ings, and then in federal court under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. All along his primary contention