Thomas v. Kemp

RONEY, Circuit Judge: Donald Wayne Thomas was convicted by a jury in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia, and sentenced to death for the murder of nine-year-old Dewey Baugus.1 When the instant habeas corpus petition was filed in the federal court, the execution scheduled for May 15, 1984 was stayed. After an evidentiary hearing, the district court granted relief on two grounds: (1) ineffective assistance of counsel at the sentencing for failure to present mitigating evidence, and (2) a constitutionally insufficient jury charge as to mitigating circumstances at sentencing.