Bell v. State

In 1983, Randy Turpin Bell was indicted and convicted for the 1981 robbery-murder of Charles Mims and sentenced to death as authorized by Alabama Code 1975, § 13A-5-40(a)(2). That conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal. Bell v. State,475 So.2d 601 (Ala.Cr.App. 1984), affirmed, Ex parte Bell,475 So.2d 609 (Ala. 1985), cert. denied, Bell v. Alabama,474 U.S. 1038, 106 S.Ct. 607, 88 L.Ed.2d 585 (1985).

In 1986, Bell filed a petition for writ of error coram nobis, which was denied after an evidentiary hearing. The petition was heard by the same circuit court judge who presided over Bell's…