(Download) "United States v. Tobin" by Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals " eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: United States v. Tobin
- Author : Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
- Release Date : January 21, 1991
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 72 KB
Description
Donald Thigpen appeals from the district courts refusal to grant a writ of habeas corpus, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (1988), setting aside his conviction. Thigpen was convicted of first-degree murder by an Alabama court and sentenced to death under Ala. Code § 13-1-75 (1975) (repealed 1980), which established a mandatory death penalty for those who committed first-degree murder while serving life sentences. After exhausting his remedies in state court, Thigpen petitioned the district court for a writ of habeas corpus, alleging several constitutional defects in his conviction and sentence. The district court set aside his death sentence, finding that section 13-1-75 was unconstitutional under Sumner v. Shuman, 483 U.S. 66, 107 S. Ct. 2716, 97 L. Ed. 2d 56 (1987), but upheld his conviction. On appeal, Thigpen raises only one issue: whether the admission of evidence that he was convicted in 1972 of another first-degree murder and received a death sentence, which was later reduced to life in prison, rendered his trial so fundamentally unfair that he was convicted without the due process of law. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the district courts conclusion that Thigpens conviction was constitutional.