Stephens v. State

Sears, Justice.

William Kenny Stephens was tried for malice murder and three counts of aggravated assault in 1980. He was convicted of all counts and sentenced to death for the murder, and his convictions and sentences were affirmed by this Court.1 In 1988, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit vacated the death sentence because trial counsel failed to adequately investigate and present evidence of Stephens’s mental health problems.2 On the Eleventh Circuit’s remand, a second sentencing trial was held in 1989. At that trial, the jury recommended a death sentence after…