United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit ____________________ No. 21-2819 GERROD R. BELL, Petitioner-Appellant, v. RANDALL HEPP, Respondent-Appellee. ____________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. No. 2:18-cv-01439 — J. P. Stadtmueller, Judge. ____________________

ARGUED APRIL 25, 2023 — DECIDED JUNE 7, 2023 ____________________

Before RIPPLE, ST. EVE, and PRYOR, Circuit Judges. RIPPLE, Circuit Judge. At Gerrod Bell’s trial for sexual as- sault, a Wisconsin prosecutor argued that an acquittal would require jurors to believe that the witnesses were lying and stressed that there was no evidence of a motive to lie. After Mr. Bell was convicted, he moved for a new trial, claiming that the prosecutor’s argument made his trial unfair by imply- ing that the defense had the burden to prove innocence and that jurors with a reasonable doubt abou