In September 2008, Morris was convicted in the Circuit Court of Morgan County, Alabama, on two counts of robbery in the first degree. See Ala. Code §§ 13A-8-41 and -43. He was sentenced pursuant to the Alabama Habitual Felony Offender Act, Ala. Code § 13A-5-9, to serve two concurrent terms of 21 years imprisonment. Morris appealed, contesting the sufficiency of the evidence, as well as the trial court's denial of his request that the jury be instructed on theft of property in the third degree, as a lesser included offense of robbery. In considering these claims, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals summarized the evidence as follows:
At trial, the State presented evidence that on November 4, 2007, Morris stole a watch and a pair of sunglasses from Wal-Mart in Decatur, Alabama. Anthony Woods, a Wal-Mart loss prevention officer, testified that he heard a breaking noise and observed Morris remove a watch from its jewelry case. He then witnessed Morris bite off the tag of the watch and place it in his left front pocket. Woods then saw Morris pick up a pair of sunglasses, bite the tag off, and hang them on his shirt collar. Thereafter, Morris attempted to leave the store without paying for the sunglasses or watch.
As Morris was attempting to leave, Woods and two other Wal-Mart employees approached him in the parking lot and identified themselves as Wal-Mart security personnel. The Wal-Mart employees asked Morris to come back inside to discuss the situation. At that point, Morris became visibly agitated, reached into his right front pocket, pulled out a knife, and, in an 'ill-mannered' tone, told them, 'Don't touch me. Don't touch me. Don't put your hands on me.' (R. 45). Woods testified that he 'felt threatened' and had been trained to 'back off;' and get the individual's license plate number if they have a 'blade.' (R. 45, 55-57). Morris continued to clinch the knife in a threatening manner until he got into his vehicle. (R. 38). Morris was later arrested by Decatur Police and a black knife matching the employees's description was found during a search of Morris's vehicle. (R. 72-74).
(Doc. 5-6 at 6).3 The court of appeals held that such evidence was sufficient to support Morris's robbery convictions. (Id.) The court likewise rejected his claim regarding the denial of his request to instruct the jury on third-degree theft of property. (Id. at 7-9). On September 11, 2009, the Alabama Supreme Court denied Morris's petition for certiorari.
On February 22, 2010, Morris filed a pro se application for post-conviction relief pursuant to Rule 32 of the ALABAMA RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE. In his Rule 32 petition, Morris advanced claims alleging that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance in violation of the Sixth Amendment, based on the following acts and omissions:
(1) by failing to move to suppress or object to the introduction of videotape evidence that Petitioner claims "showed no criminal acts" by him;
(2) by failing to enter medical records supporting that it was "impossible [for Morris] to hold a knife in his right hand as" Anthony Woods, a Wal-Mart security employee, had testified;
(3) by failing to subpoena the female employee who was working at the counter in the jewelry department on the date in question;
(4) by failing to make more than one objection during trial;
(5) by failing to object to testimony by Decatur police officer Walter Segars that the van that Morris was riding in when he was stopped and arrested had been reported stolen;
(6) by failing to object to testimony by Segars that a "joint" was found inside the van when it was searched incident to Morris's arrest;
(7) by failing to object to the introduction of two pair of sunglasses and two watches when there was only testimony that Morris stole one pair of sunglasses and one watch;(8) by failing to call certain witnesses, namely: Dr. Ken Chandler, Nanette Mercer [Pannell],4 Laketta Morris, and Lotoya Morris;
(9) by eliciting testimony on cross-examination of Decatur police Sergeant Rick Archer about the van being reported stolen and about a marijuana cigarette being found in the van; and
(10) by eliciting testimony on cross-examination of Archer about other drug paraphernalia also being found in the van.
(Doc. 5-7 at 23-24; see also id. at 25-29). The trial court issued an order denying all of these claims without a hearing, holding that Morris's allegations as pled were insufficient under ALA. R. CRIM. P. 32.3 and 32.6(b) to meet his burden to show that his counsel was ineffective under the standards of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984). (Id. at 3-6). Morris appealed to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, raising the same issues. (See Doc. 5-9 at 8-9). The appellate court affirmed based upon the trial court's order. (Doc. 5-11). Morris then filed a petition for certiorari in the Alabama Supreme Court (Doc. 5-12), which was denied on January 7, 2011. (Doc. 5-8 at 2). On March 25, 2011, Morris filed his instant federal habeas petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. (Doc. 1 ("Pet")). Liberally reading his pro se application, see Dupree v. Warden, 715 F.3d 1295, 1299 (11th Cir. 2013), Morris raises all of the claims raised in his Rule 32 petition, plus several others. For shorthand reference, Morris's claims are enumerated as follows:
(1) Trial counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance based on the following acts and omissions:
(a) by failing to move to suppress or object to the introduction of videotape evidence that Petitioner claims "showed no criminal acts" by him (Pet.5 at 13-14, 15);(b) by failing to investigate his medical history and obtain his medical records and subpoena Morris's physician, Dr. Ken Chandler, to testify that it was "impossible [for Morris] to hold a knife in his right hand" as the Wal-Mart security employee, Anthony Woods, had testified (Pet. at 5, ¶ 12B, id. at 11);
(c) by failing to subpoena the female employee who was working at the counter in the jewelry department on the date in question (Pet. at 14, 15, 19);
(d) by failing to make more than one objection during trial (Pet. at 14);
(e) by failing to object to testimony by Decatur police officer Walter Segars that the van that Morris was riding in when he was stopped and arrested had been reported stolen (Pet. at 14);
(f) by failing to object to testimony by Segars that a "joint" was found inside the van when it was searched incident to Morris's arrest (Pet. at 14);
(g) by failing to object to the introduction of two pair of sunglasses and two watches when there was only testimony that Morris stole one pair of sunglasses and one watch (Pet. at 14);
(h) by failing to call certain other witnesses, namely: Nanette Mercer [Pannell], Laketta Morris, and Lotoya Morris (Pet. at 15; id. at 18);
(i) by cross-examining Decatur police Sergeant Rick Archer about the van being reported stolen and about a marijuana cigarette being found in the van (Pet. at 15);
(j) by cross-examining Archer about other drug paraphernalia also being found in the van (Pet. at 15);
(k) by failing to provide Morris with a preliminary hearing transcript or failing to ensure that such a record was made (Pet. at 12-13); and(l) by failing to provide Morris with otherwise unspecified "transcripts, motions, and brief's (sic) filed [in his case]" (Pet. at 12);
2. Appellate counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to raise on direct appeal the foregoing issues of ineffective assistance of trial counsel (Pet. at 22-23);
3. A substantive claim contesting the admission of the videotape (Pet. at 15);
4. The Alabama courts improperly denied him an evidentiary hearing on his ineffective-assistance claims in the Rule 32 proceedings (Pet. at 5, ¶ 12A); and,
5. The Alabama courts were "manifestly unfair" in holding that he had failed to sufficiently plead his ineffective-assistance claims for purposes of ALA. R. CRIM. P. 32.6(b) (id. at 5, ¶ 12C; see also id. at 20-22).
In response to an order to show cause from the court (Doc. 4), the State filed its Answer, appending various records from the State trial and appellate courts, both from the trial and the Rule 32 proceedings. (Doc. 5). The State discerned Morris to be raising only ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims, essentially as set forth above, as well as a freestanding claim that the videotape was improperly admitted at trial. The State argued, however, that all of those claims were procedurally defaulted, either because they were unexhausted and the time to present them had expired or because they had been rejected on independent state-law procedural grounds.
Morris filed a traverse in which he reiterated that he was "actually innocent" and that there was "no evidence to legally prove [his] guilt beyond a reasonable doubt." (Doc. 7 at 1-2). He further related his version of the relevant events at the Wal-Mart store. According to Morris, who is African-American, he and his girlfriend, Nanette Mercer Pannell, who is white, had gone to the store to exchange a malfunctioning wristwatch purchased there previously. (Id. at 2). They went to the jewelry department and, with the assistance of a female store clerk at the counter, picked out a replacement watch...
