Hays v. State of Alabama

EDMONDSON, Circuit Judge:

Henry Hays petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus, alleging constitutional errors in the state court proceedings surrounding his conviction for murder and sentence of death. The district court denied relief. We affirm. 1

FACTS AND BACKGROUND

In 1981, the defendant Henry Hays (“Hays”), his father Bennie Hays, and Henry’s friend and later accomplice James “Tiger” Knowles were following developments in the trial of a black man accused of killing a white man. The three men, all members of the Ku Klux Klan, discussed the likely public reaction to the hanging of a black man.…