Lewis Coleman Cowley v. Larry Stricklin, Director, Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility, and the Attorney General of the State of Alabama

CLARK, Circuit Judge:

Because we hold that the district court erred in its conclusion that petitioner-appellant Lewis Coleman Cowley was not entitled to a state-provided mental health expert to assist in the preparation and conduct of his defense, we reverse the district court’s refusal to grant the writ of habeas corpus.

I. BACKGROUND

Cowley was sentenced in 1986 to two concurrent thirty-year terms of imprisonment for sexually assaulting a woman standing at a bank teller machine in Huntsville, Alabama. Cowley was provided counsel, Charles Rodenhauser, by the state. After his appointment,…