Stallworth v. State
Decision Date | 08 November 2013 |
Docket Number | CR–09–1433. |
Citation | 171 So.3d 53 |
Parties | Calvin L. STALLWORTH v. STATE of Alabama. |
Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
William L. Pfeifer, Jr., Birmingham; Jerome T. Wolf, Kansas City, Missouri; and Mark A. Flessner, Chicago, Illinois, for appellant.
Troy King and Luther Strange, attys. gen., and Kevin Wayne Blackburn, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.
Calvin L. Stallworth, currently an inmate on Alabama's death row at Holman Correctional Facility, appeals the circuit court's denial of his petition for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Rule 32, Ala. R.Crim. P.
In October 1998, Stallworth was convicted of two counts of capital murder for murdering Nancy Dukes and Linda Morton during the course of a robbery.The jury, by a vote of 10 to 2, recommended that Stallworth be sentenced to death.The circuit court followed the jury's recommendation and sentenced Stallworth to death.After remanding the case for the trial court to correct its sentencing order, this Court affirmed Stallworth's convictions and sentences of death.SeeStallworth v. State,868 So.2d 1128(Ala.Crim.App.2001), cert. denied, 868 So.2d 1189(Ala.2003).The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari review.SeeStallworth v. Alabama,540 U.S. 1057, 124 S.Ct. 828, 157 L.Ed.2d 711(2003).This Court issued a certificate of judgment making Stallworth's direct appeal final on June 27, 2003.SeeRule 41(a), Ala. R.App. P.
In June 2004, Stallworth filed a postconviction petition attacking his convictions and death sentence.He filed amended petitions in October 2005 and in June 2006.1The State filed its answer to the postconviction petition, and Stallworth filed a brief in response to that answer.In May 2007, the circuit court issued an order dismissing the majority of Stallworth's claims after it found that the claims were insufficiently pleaded or failed to state claims upon which relief could be granted.In June 2009, the circuit court held an evidentiary hearing on the three claims that were not summarily dismissed.On May 12, 2010, the circuit court issued an order denying relief on those claims.Stallworth filed a timely notice of appeal to this Court.
This Court, in its opinion on direct appeal, set out the following facts surrounding Stallworth's convictions:
868 So.2d at 1136–38(footnotes omitted).
Stallworth appeals the circuit court's partial denial and partial summary dismissal of his petition for postconviction relief attacking his capital-murder conviction and sentence of death.According to Rule 32.3, Ala. R.Crim. P., Stallworth has the sole burden of pleading and proving that he is entitled to relief.Rule 32.3, Ala. R.Crim. P., provides:
When it reviewed Stallworth's claims on direct appeal, this Court applied a plain-error standard of review and examined every issue regardless of whether the issue was preserved for appellate review.SeeRule 45A, Ala. R.App. P.However, the plain-error standard does not apply when evaluating a ruling on a postconviction petition, even when the petitioner has been sentenced to death.SeeFerguson v. State,13 So.3d 418, 424(Ala.Crim.App.2008);Waldrop v. State,987 So.2d 1186(Ala.Crim.App.2007);Hall v. State,979 So.2d 125(Ala.Crim.App.2007);Gaddy v. State,952 So.2d 1149(Ala.Crim.App.2006).“The standard of review this Court uses in evaluating the rulings made by the trial court is whether the trial court abused its discretion.”Hunt v. State,940 So.2d 1041, 1049(Ala.Crim.App.2005)(citingElliott v. State,601 So.2d 1118, 1119(Ala.Crim.App.1992) ).However, ”Ex parte Beckworth,[Ms. 1091780, July 3, 2013]–––So.3d ––––, ––––(Ala.2013)(quotingEx parte Lamb,113 So.3d 686, 689(Ala.2011) ).
The majority of the claims raised by Stallworth in his brief to this Court were summarily dismissed before the evidentiary hearing after the State filed its answer to Stallworth's postconviction petition and after Stallworth filed a detailed response to that answer.Many of the claims that were summarily dismissed were claims that Stallworth was denied his right to the effective assistance of counsel.
In discussing the pleading requirements related to postconviction petitions, this Court has stated:
...
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