Opinion
No. 87-73-I.
September 11, 2008.
JACKSON COUNTY, ORIGINAL APPEAL.
MOTION TO SET EXECUTION DATE
Pursuant to Rule 12.4(A), Rules of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, the State of Tennessee respectfully requests that the Court set an execution date for Steve Henley. In support of this motion, the State relies on the following:
1. Henley was convicted by a Jackson County Criminal Court jury in 1986 of the first-degree murders of Fred and Edna Stafford. He was sentenced to death for the murders. This Court affirmed the judgment, State v. Henley, 774 S.W.2d 908 (Tenn. 1989), and the United States Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari. Henley v. Tennessee, 497 U.S. 1031 (1990).
2. Henley subsequently sought post-conviction relief in the trial court, which conducted a hearing, made findings, and denied relief. The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals reversed, finding that Henley's counsel was ineffective during sentencing. Henley v. State, No. 01C01-9506-CC-00193,1996 WL 234075 (Tenn.Crim.App., May 9, 1996. However, this Court reversed and reinstated the judgment of the trial court after concluding the Court of Criminal Appeals erred in finding that Henley was prejudiced by counsel's performance at sentencing. Henley v. State, 960 S.W.2d 572 (Tenn. 1997), cert, denied, 525 U.S. 830 (1998).
3. In July 1998, Henley filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. On April 1, 2003, the district court entered a memorandum opinion and order granting the State's motion for summary judgment and dismissing the petition. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment on May 15, 2007. Henley v. Bell, 487 F.3d 379 (6th Cir. 2007), reh'g and sugg. for reh'g en banc denied (Oct. 17, 2007). The United States Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari on June 23, 2008, Henley v. Bell, 128 S.Ct. 2862 (No. 07-1194), and denied a petition for rehearing on August 18, 2008. (copy of order list attached)
4. Henley has completed the standard three-tier appeals process, making the setting of an execution date appropriate. See Rule 12.4(A).
For the reasons stated, a new execution date should be set.
Respectfully submitted,
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that a true and exact copy of the foregoing Motion has been forwarded via Facsimile and First-Class U.S. mail, postage prepaid on this the 11th day of September, 2008 to:
Paul S. Davidson Waller, Lansden, Dortch . Davis PLLC 511 Union Street Nashville, TN 37219 (615) 244-6380
Paul R. Bottei Office of the Federal Public Defender 810 Broadway, Suite 200 Nashville, Tennessee 37203 (615) 736-5047
The undersigned attorney of record prefers to be notified of any orders or opinions of the Court by Facsimile at (615) 532-7791