State Ex Rel. Corbin v. Superior Court

FELDMAN, Vice Chief Justice.

In 1978, the real party in interest, Sylvester Smith, Jr., was tried for the murder of Timothy Hayes and was sentenced to death. The conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal, State v. Smith, 125 Ariz. 412, 610 P.2d 46 (1980). In 1986, the sentencing judge, the Honorable James Moeller, Judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court, considered a petition for post-conviction relief under Rule 32, Ariz.R. Crim.P., 17 A.R.S., and found that Smith had been denied his right to effective assistance of counsel in the sentencing phase of the case. Judge Moeller…