COLE, ANDRE

DOB: October 3, 1962
Race: African-American
Gender: Male

CRIME AND TRIAL

County of conviction: St. Louis City
Number of counts: One
Race of victim: African-American
Gender of victim: Male
Date of crime: August 22, 1998
Date of sentencing: March 9, 2001

TRIAL COUNSEL:

Dorothy Hirzy

LEGAL STATUS:

• Habeas proceedings pending in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Missouri, Case No. 4:05-cv-00131-CDP (Perry, J.).

Last judicial decision:

• Motion for limited discovery denied in Cole v. Roper, 2007 WL 1460460 (May 16, 2007).

CURRENT COUNSEL:

Joseph W. Luby
jluby@pilc.net
and
Lori Leon
lleon@pilc.net
Public Interest Litigation Clinic
305 East 63rd Street
Kansas City, MO  64113
816-363-2795

REPORTED OPINIONS:

• Motion for limited discovery denied in Cole v. Roper, 2007 WL 1460460 (May 16, 2007).
   
• US Supreme Court certiorari denied by Cole v. Missouri, 125 S. Ct. 2940 (U.S. 2005)
   
• Denial of post-conviction relief affirmed by  Cole v. State, 152  S.W.3d 267 (Mo. banc  2004).
   
• Sentence and conviction affirmed on direct appeal by State v. Cole, 71 S.W.3d 163 (Mo. banc), cert. denied, 123 S.Ct. 261 (2002).

SIGNIFICANT LEGAL ISSUES:

• trial counsel's effectiveness in failing to present evidence of Mr. Cole's favorable adjustment to incarceration, his religious upbringing, and an alleged mental or emotional disturbance at the time of the murder, in light of (or despite)  strategic decision to present "good character" evidence.
   
• prosecutor's improper arguments during penalty phase
   
• State's improper use of "bad acts" and related evidence during guilt phase
   
• failure of prosecution to plead aggravating circumstances by indictment and information
   
• sufficiency of prosecutor's asserted race-neutral explanations for peremptory strikes under Batson
   
• exclusion of penalty-phase evidence that defendant's relatives would visit him in prison

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