Williams v. Alabama
Decision Date | 12 April 2012 |
Docket Number | Civil Action Number 1:07-cv-1276-KOB-TMP |
Parties | MARCUS BERNARD WILLIAMS, Petitioner, v. STATE OF ALABAMA, Respondent. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama |
This action, filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, seeks habeas corpus relief with respect to Petitioner Marcus Williams' state court conviction and death sentence on a charge of capital murder.
On February 24, 1999, following a jury trial, Marcus Williams was convicted of capital murder by intentionally causing the death of Melanie Rowell during a rape or attempted rape that occurred on November 6, 1996, in violation of Alabama Code § 13A-5-40 (1975). The next day, during the penalty phase of the trial, the jury voted 11 to 1 to recommend a sentence of death. The trial court conducted a formal sentencing hearing on April 6, 1999, and, in accordance with the jury's recommendation, sentenced the Petitioner to death. Petitioner was represented at trial by attorneys Erskine Funderburg and Tommie Wilson.
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Petitioner's conviction and death sentence on December 10, 1999. See Williams v. State, 795 So. 2d 753 (Ala. Crim. App. 1999). Rehearing was denied on January 28, 2000. The Supreme Court of Alabama subsequently granted Petitioner's application for certiorari and, on January 12, 2001, affirmed his conviction and sentence. See Ex parte Williams, 795 So. 2d 785 (2001). Rehearing was denied on March 30, 2001. The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari review on October 1, 2001. See Williams v. Alabama, 534 U.S. 900 (2001). Petitioner was represented by Joe Morgan, III, in the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. Petitioner was represented by Joe Morgan, III and Dennis Rushing on petition for writ of certiorari to the Alabama Supreme Court. Petitioner was represented by LaJuana Davis on petition for writ of certiorari review to the United States Supreme Court.
On September 20, 2002, Petitioner filed a Rule 32 petition. (Tab R. 43). On October 17, 2003, Williams filed an amended Rule 32 petition. In response to a motion by the State, the trial court dismissed the petitions as untimely on January 14, 2004, pursuant to Davis v. State, 890 So. 2d 193 (Ala. Crim. App. 2003). (Tab R. 37, p. 9). On March 4, 2004, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the dismissal of the petitions based on Ex parte Davis, 890 So. 2d 199 (Ala. 2004), which overruled Davis v. State. (Tab R. 37, p. 11). On remand, the trial court summarily dismissed the Rule 32 petition and amended petition on March 12, 2004, finding them time-barred by the two-year limitations period that Rule 32.2(c) established. (Tab R. 37; pp. 24-25); see Ala. R. Crim. P. 32.2(c).
On August 10, 2004, Petitioner filed his second amended Rule 32 petition. (Tab R. 40). In response to the state's motion to dismiss (Tab. R. 41), the court denied the petition without an evidentiary hearing on December 13, 2004. (Tab R. 59). The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the denial of Rule 32 relief in an unpublished opinion on December 16, 2006. (Tab R. 60). Rehearing was denied on January 12, 2007, and the Alabama Supreme Court denied certiorari on June 29, 2007. (Tab R. 61). The present § 2254 petition was filed on July 6, 2007, with the assistance of Leslie Smith.1
The evidence presented at the 1999 trial was summarized by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals as follows:
Williams v. State, 795 So. 2d 753, 761-62 (Ala. Crim. App. 1999) (Tab R. 27 at 105).
The § 2254 petition alleges multiple grounds for granting habeas corpus relief. Listed below are the claims asserted by Petitioner.2
III. Trial counsel were ineffective during the penalty phase of Petitioner's trial, thereby depriving him of his rights under the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and resulting in the unjust and unconstitutional imposition of the death penalty. (Doc. 5, p. 38).
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