Cornelius Singleton

Name/DOC #	Cornelius Singleton
Address	Holman Prison/Deceased November 20, 1992
Date of Birth	April 14, 1956
Race	Black
Date of Crime	November 12, 1977
Age Time of Crime	21
Date Sentenced	July 1978
Victims	Sister Ann Hogan
Race of Victims	White
Relationship to Defendant	None
Facts Alleged by State	Murder and robbery of Sister Ann Hogan in Catholic Cemetery in Mobile, AL
County of Trial	Mobile
Trial Judge	Ferrill D. McRae
Trial Attorney	Reggie Stephens & Mike Scheuermann (Mobile) 1978; Gary Porter Mobile
Prosecutors	Charles Graddick
Trial By	Jury
Race of Jurors	White
Convicted of	Capital murder-sentenced to death
Confession	Coerced and dictated by prosecutor
Accomplice Testimony	No
Eyewitness Testimony	Yes, of other suspects, mainly a white man with long blonde hair
Forensic Testimony	None to implicate Singleton. No fingerprints of his in stolen truck or at crime scene Blood on blouse of nun with outline of hand on back of blouse–no testing
Jailhouse Snitch	Someone Singleton referred to as Pootenany put in cell with him to get confession
Defendant Testimony	No-wanted to testify about his innocence
Principal Exculpatory Evidence	IQ of 55-67 Mental age of seven Waived Miranda rights without knowing Coerced, dictated confession Girlfriend put on his lap during confession Illiterate and signed confession thinking he was confessing to stealing sheets Could not drive standard shift truck
Sentencing Authority	Jury (judge had override)
Statutory Aggravating Factor	Theft of victim's watch
Non-Statutory Aggravating Factor	Previous record
Mitigating Factors	IQ, illiteracy, waiving of rights, coerced confession
Evidence of Mental Illness Retardation and or Neurological Damage	Retardation
Criminal History	1972–sentenced to 3 years for arson and burglary. Served full term, released in 1976
Appellate History	Based on fact that original attorney failed to use retardation as a mitigating factor for sentencing. Conviction overturned when U.S. Supreme Court found part of death penalty unconstitutional in AL. Retried in 1981, sentenced to death. All appeals failed
Ineffective Assistance?	Yes No investigation No challenge to all white jury No challenge to coerced confession
Police Misconduct?	Yes Did not understand waiving of Miranda rights; Police Officer Bell told him where to walk and what to say at cemetery; failure to investigate other suspects
Prosecutorial Misconduct?	Yes Prosecutor Graddick dictated confession
Appellate Counsel	Al Pennington-Mobile; Blair Brown (Wash., DC) and M. McDonald (Mobile)

Cornelius Singleton (AL)