Alpha Otis O'Daniel Stephens v. Walter Zant, Superintendent

RONEY, Circuit Judge.

Petitioner, convicted of murder and sentenced to death by the State of Georgia, appeals from a denial of a writ of habeas corpus. Petitioner contends his conviction violates the Double Jeopardy Clause and his sentence is invalid under the Eighth Amendment because closing arguments were not transcribed, the jury was not properly instructed that it could recommend a life sentence if it found aggravating circumstances, and the jury was permitted to consider an unconstitutional aggravating circumstance. Although we reject his other contentions, we agree that because the jury…