In Re: Carl Powell (Petition for Habeas Corpus)

On October 4, 2024, we filed a writ of habeas corpus in a death penalty case under California’s Racial Justice Act asking for our client, Carl Powell, to have his conviction and sentence vacated because his trial was infected by racism. Mr. Powell was convicted and sentenced to death by a jury that included multiple jurors who expressed racially discriminatory views during voir dire and in juror questionnaires. The prosecutor in the sentencing phase closing argument compared Mr. Powell to a wild animal, a well-known racist trope. And Sacramento County consistently charged and sentenced Black men, and people accused of killing white victims, to capital murder at the time of Mr. Powell’s trial, even for unaggravated robberies gone wrong, as occurred in Mr. Powell’s case.  

On October 29, 2024, the Court issued an Order to Show Cause and briefing is currently stayed while the parties engage in settlement negotiations.  

We subsequently filed a writ of habeas corpus challenging four unfounded disciplinary infractions that Mr. Powell received. Because the findings are not supported by sufficient evidence, we argue in our briefing that the findings violate evidentiary requirements.