Ritter v. Thigpen

This case comes before the court on a motion for certificate of probable cause to appeal from a denial of Wayne E. Ritter’s second petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, in this death penalty case, and to stay the execution presently set for 12:01 a.m., Friday, August 28, 1987.

Petitioner was tried and convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 1977 in an Alabama state court. The procedural history of this case has, in part, been set forth in opinions of numerous courts during the review process encompassing a number of years. See, e.g., Ritter v. State,…