State ex rel. Winfield v. Roper

ORIGINAL PROCEEDING. IN HABEAS CORPUS

John Winfield was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. His convictions were affirmed on appeal, State v. Winfield, 5 S.W.3d 505 (Mo. banc 1999), and he was denied post-conviction relief, Winfield v. State, 93 S.W.3d 732 (Mo. banc 2002).

Winfield now seeks a writ of habeas corpus. He claims that during the jury’s penalty deliberations it had a split or deadlocked vote on the issue of the sentence; that this impasse was reported to the judge or bailiff; and that, without counsel being consulted or made aware of the split or deadlocked…