BLACK: Appeals court rejects Talladega man's death penalty appeal, burglary killed WM Tracy Phillips, and raped, sodomized and beat Phillip's WF wife.

[Arheel's Uncle]

Appeals court rejects Alpine man's death penalty appeal

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday rejected the appeal of Alabama Death Row inmate John Russell Calhoun

www.al.com

• Published: May. 01, 2016, 10:28 p.m.

Alabama Death Row inmate John Russell Calhoun

By

• Kent Faulk | kfaulk@al.com

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday rejected the appeal of Alabama Death Row inmate John Russell Calhoun in the 1998 death and robbery of a Talladega man and the rape of his wife.

Calhoun had made ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims his appeal. Among Calhoun's arguments was that a circuit judge erred by summarily dismissing his claim that his appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to adequately argue that he should be given a chance to demonstrate he is intellectually disabled.

The Alabama Court of Criminal, which had heard arguments on the appeal in a special session in October at the Cumberland School of Law, rejected Calhoun's arguments regarding ineffective-assistance-of-counsel.

Calhoun, 48, alleges he suffers significant sub-average intellectual functioning - a low IQ.

According to court records:

Calhoun was convicted of four counts of capital murder in the May 8, 1998 death of Tracy Phillips during the course of a robbery, during the course of a burglary, during the course of a sodomy, and during the course of a rape.

A judge sentenced Calhoun to death upon a 10 to 2 recommendation by the jury.

Calhoun was convicted of entering the Talladega home of Tracy Phillips and his wife in Talladega wearing a stocking mask over his face. He then robbed the couple of jewelry, killed Phillips, and raped, sodomized and beat Phillip's wife.

The wife testified that she knew the man in the mask was Calhoun because he had been to their house and had seen him while she was posting signs in front of their house for a yard sale. That evening a neighbor called to say a man was looking into the windows of their house.

Before Calhoun got into the house, Phillips' wife testified that she ran upstairs and hid her daughter and one of her daughter's friends in a bedroom and locked the door.

A person matching Calhoun's description was seen fleeing the murder scene and neighbors saw Calhoun's car near the murder scene. One neighbor telephoned emergency 911 and police issued a "BOLO" (Be on the lookout bulletin) for Calhoun's vehicle.

The Talladega County Sheriff's Department found Calhoun's vehicle hidden in some bushes where his mother lived. Law enforcement officers eventually found Calhoun hiding under a bed at another home.

Forensic tests showed that the blood found on Calhoun's discarded clothes was consistent with the wife's blood, DNA tests on semen from the victim was consistent with Calhoun's DNA, and a bite-mark expert testified there was an extremely high probability that the bite mark on the wife's neck matched Calhoun's dental impression and that the bite mark on Calhoun's arm matched the wife's dental impression.

Calhoun had claimed that, had appellate counsel conducted additional investigation, counsel would have discovered readily available evidence outside the record regarding Calhoun's mental retardation and a history of mental retardation in his family.

The decision in Calhoun's case was among four appeals by Alabama Death Row inmates upheld by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday.

 

[Arheel's Uncle]

Tracy Lee Phillips (1965-1998) - Find a Grave...

Born in 17 Jun 1965 and died in 8 May 1998 Talladega, Alabama Tracy Lee Phillips

www.findagrave.com

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Tracy Lee Phillips​

Birth 17 Jun 1965 Death 8 May 1998 (aged 32) Burial
Pine Hill Memorial Park
Talladega, Talladega County, Alabama, USA

 

[Arheel's Uncle]

John Russell Calhoun

John Calhoun Alabama Death Row

John Calhoun was sentenced to death by the State of Alabama for the sexual assault and murder. According to court documents John Calhoun would break into the

mycrimelibrary.com

John Calhoun More News​

QUOTE:
The State’s evidence tended to show that on May 8, 1998, John Calhoun entered L.P.’s1 and Tracy Phillips’s home in Talledega and shot and killed Tracy Phillips. L.P. testified that on the evening of May 8 her neighbor telephoned her to tell her that there was a man looking in the windows of her house. L.P. told her husband, Tracy, and Tracy went to check outside. When Tracy returned to the house Calhoun, who was wearing a stocking mask over his face, was following behind him with a gun. L.P. said that she knew that the man in the mask was Calhoun because he had been to their house that day and she had also seen him when she had been posting signs earlier that day for a yard sale she was having. L.P. said that she ran upstairs to one of the bedrooms to hide her daughter and her daughter’s friend and locked the bedroom door behind her. Moments later, she said, Tracy yelled from behind the door that Calhoun had a gun to his head and that if she did not open the door John Calhoun would kill him. She complied and Calhoun entered the bedroom.

Tracy pleaded for their lives and offered him money and jewelry. Calhoun declined and told L.P. to take off her clothes, get on the bed, and spread her legs. L.P. complied. Calhoun pushed Tracy’s head between his wife’s legs, held the gun to the back of Tracy’s head, and pulled the trigger. The coroner testified that Tracy died of a gunshot wound to the back of his head, which severed his brain stem.

After shooting Tracy, Calhoun dragged L.P. downstairs, where he raped, sodomized, and beat her. She said that at one point she struggled with Calhoun for the gun, he became enraged, and he pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire. Calhoun then raped her again and told her to get any money that she had upstairs. She refused to go back upstairs because her husband’s body was there, but she told Calhoun that she had jewelry in a downstairs bathroom. L.P. gave him some jewelry, he threw some of it down, and he left. L.P. then telephoned emergency 911.


A person matching Calhoun’s description was seen fleeing the murder scene. Neighbors also saw Calhoun’s car near the murder scene. One neighbor telephoned emergency 911. Police issued a “BOLO” for Calhoun’s vehicle. After police were unsuccessful in locating Calhoun’s vehicle, Charles Hedrick, a sheriff in the Talladega County Sheriff’s Department, went to the area where Calhoun’s mother lived and found Calhoun’s vehicle hidden in some bushes. The next morning police returned to the area and conducted an extensive search. Officer Wren Cooley of the Talladega Police Department spotted Calhoun in the area, pursued him on foot, but lost him. At one residence police obtained consent to search the homeowner’s house and discovered Calhoun hiding under a bed.

At the sentencing hearing Calhoun presented the testimony of Dr. Alvin Sheeley, a psychologist. Dr. Sheeley testified that Calhoun was close to meeting the clinical definition of having an impulse-control disorder. The State presented testimony that Calhoun had two prior convictions for attempted rape in the first degree and one prior conviction for sexual abuse in the first degree. The jury, by a vote of 10 to 2, recommended that Calhoun be sentenced to death.

UNQUOTE.

The above quote from Calhoun v State
https://www.anylaw.com/case/calhoun...ls-of-alabama/04-28-2005/gJ-5RmYBTlTomsSBTvs8