Bell v. State

Alfonzo Bell was indicted and convicted for the murder of his common law wife, Maxine Bush. He was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment. On appeal from that conviction, Bell's only argument is the claim that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. While "[t]he claim of `ineffective assistance of counsel' has become a sort of `canned' claim which appears in practically every post-conviction claim," Exparte Boatwright, 471 So.2d 1257, 1259 (Ala. 1985) (Maddox, J., concurring specially), this case is unique in that trial counsel testified to his own ineffectiveness.

George Jones,…