Stephenson v. Neal

Dist. Ct. did not err in denying portion of defendant’s habeas petition that challenged his murder conviction on ground that he was actually innocent of charged offense, where witness testified after instant trial that third-party was actual culprit who indirectly admitted to instant murders. Witness’ testimony was contradicted by another witness who testified at post-conviction proceeding that defendant was actual culprit, and forensic evidence did not rule out defendant as culprit. As such, defendant failed in his burden of establishing his innocence. However, defendant was entitled to new sentencing hearing, where his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to defendant’s wearing of stun belt during penalty phase of trial, which resulted in imposition of death penalty, since: (1) at least four members of jury saw defendant wear stun belt during penalty phase of trial; (2) there was no evidence of likelihood that defendant would act up during penalty phase of trial; and (3) defendant’s wearing of stun belt could have led jury to conclude that death penalty was appropriate because of perception that defendant was prone to violence.