West v. Carpenter

In 1986, 23-year-old West and 17-year-old Martin drove to the home of 15-year-old Sheila, who had rebuffed Martin’s advances. They murdered Sheila and her mother. Sheila was raped and suffered 17 stab wounds, including 14 torture-type cuts, inflicted while she was alive. Police arrested the two. West’s parents hired McConnell for $10,000; the court appointed co-counsel. West admitted that he was present during the crime but denied harming either victim. He testified that Martin threatened his life and forced him to rape Sheila. A jury convicted West of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated rape, and larceny, and sentenced him to death. The Tennessee Supreme Court rejected his appeal. The state court rejected his petition for post-conviction relief, interpreting his ineffective assistance claims, relating to McConnell’s handling of information that West’s parents abused him, as conflict-of-interest claims. West filed his federal section 2254 petition. The district court dismissed; the Sixth Circuit affirmed. In 2010, West sought relief from judgment under Rule 60(b). The Sixth Circuit dismissed because West had not set forth grounds warranting a successive habeas petition. In 2013, West filed a Rule 60(b)(6) motion, arguing that, under the Supreme Court’s 2012 decision, Martinez, the ineffectiveness of his state post-conviction counsel excused the procedural default of that claim. The district court denied relief. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, stating that Martinez, (expanded by Trevino (2013)), applies to Tennessee cases, but did not apply to West’s conflict-of-interest claim, which was defaulted at the state post-conviction appellate proceeding, rather than initial-review proceeding. View "West v. Carpenter" on Justia Law