William Thomas Knotts v. Richard F. Allen , 210 F. App'x 987 ( 2006 )

[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
No. 06-10125 December 19, 2006
THOMAS K. KAHN
CLERK
D. C. Docket No. 01-00518 CV-N
WILLIAM THOMAS KNOTTS,
Petitioner-Appellant,
versus
RICHARD F. ALLEN,
Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections,
CHARLES E. JONES, Warden, et al.,
Respondents-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Alabama
(December 19, 2006)
Before DUBINA and WILSON, Circuit Judges, and HODGES,* District Judge.
PER CURIAM:
____________________
*Honorable Wm. Terrell Hodges, United States District Judge for the Middle District of
Florida, sitting by designation.
Appellant/Petitioner, William Thomas Knotts (“Knotts”) appeals the district
court’s order denying him federal habeas relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
The issues presented on appeal are (1) whether the district court properly
denied habeas relief on Knotts’s claim of prosecutorial misconduct; and (2)
whether the district court properly denied habeas relief on Knotts’s claims of
ineffective assistance of counsel.
Assuming that the arguments and comments made by the prosecutor during
the trial were improper, we conclude that Knotts’s closing argument and the trial
court’s instructions ameliorated the error, and that and the arguments and
comments were offset by the overwhelming evidence establishing Knotts’s guilt.
We also conclude from the record that Knotts’s claims of ineffective
assistance of counsel are meritless.
For the above-stated reasons, we affirm the district court’s order denying
Knotts habeas relief.
AFFIRMED.1
1
Knotts was initially sentenced to death but, after the Supreme Court released its decision
in Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551, 125 S. Ct. 1183 (2005) (holding that states cannot execute a
juvenile under the age of 18), and while his federal habeas petition was pending before the
district court, Knotts’s case was remanded to state court, where the trial court re-sentenced him to
a term of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
2