Walker v. Penn

Thompson, Justice.

Aaron Keith Penn was granted a writ of habeas corpus for the stated purpose of avoiding a miscarriage of justice. The Warden appeals, and we reverse.

Penn was convicted of malice murder in the 1988 shooting death of Michael Atkins, after a jury rejected his defense of justification. A motion for new trial was filed and amended to request a new trial based on newly discovered evidence. That evidence consisted of the affidavit of Horace Ragland, a state prisoner, who averred that he had witnessed the shooting and had observed the victim’s brother remove a pistol from the victim…