Coleman Pennington v. Larry Spears, Warden, and the State of Alabama

Coleman Pennington appeals from the district court’s denial of his pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus. In April 1982, Pennington was convicted of theft of property in the first degree, and was sentenced to life imprisonment under Alabama’s Habitual Offender Act. In December 1984, Pennington filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (1982). The magistrate characterized his petition as raising the following claims: (1) insufficiency of the evidence; (2) a constitutionally defective indictment; (3) the commission of perjury by a prosecution witness; (4) the…