Oliver Paul Summers v. State

The appellant was convicted of robbery and sentenced to fifteen years' imprisonment. This Court affirmed his conviction on appeal and the Alabama Supreme Court denied certiorari without opinion. Summers v. State, 348 So. 2d 1126 (Ala. Cr. App.), cert. denied, 348 So. 2d 1136 (Ala. 1976). A petition for writ of certiorari to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals was denied without opinion by the United States Supreme Court on February 21, 1978. 434 U.S. 1070, 98 S. Ct. 1253, 55 L. Ed. 2d 773 (1978). Petition for rehearing was also denied, 435 U.S. 981, 98 S. Ct. 1633, 56 L. Ed. 2d 75 (1978). Having exhausted his procedures for direct appellate review, the appellant filed a petition for writ of error coram nobis before the trial court which issued the judgment of conviction. The petition, as amended, contains six grounds for setting aside the appellant's conviction and ordering a new trial: (A) The use of the perjured testimony of Elaine Campbell McClellan to secure the conviction; (B) the denial of a request for a continuance which denied the appellant the necessary time to complete his interrogatories to witnesses; and (C) also denied him adequate time to prepare his defense; (D) the prejudicial remarks made by the prosecutor in closing argument at trial; (E) the calculated pattern of prosecutorial misconduct designed to engender bias and prejudice against the petitioner and to impede his right to defend himself exemplified by the participation of the State in those matters contained in grounds (B), (C), and (D); and (F) ineffective assistance of counsel.