In re the Personal Restraint of Davis

This is a personal restraint petition filed by Cecil Emile Davis, a prisoner under sentence of death. On February 6, 1998, a jury in the Pierce County Superior Court convicted him of premeditated murder in the first degree for the death of Ms. Yoshiko Couch, an elderly resident of Tacoma, Washington. The jury found aggravating circumstances of rape, robbery, and burglary, making Petitioner eligible for the death penalty. In the penalty phase1 the jury recommended that leniency not be granted. The trial court, the Honorable Frederick W. Fleming, on February 23, 1998, sentenced Petitioner to…