THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1997

Style: Ragsdale v. State, No. 89,657

Facts: Ragsdale was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to death. Onappeal, the conviction and sentence were affirmed. Ragsdale later filed a motion forpostconviction relief, which was denied. He now appeals the denial of postconvictionrelief.
Claims: Ragsdale argues that the trial court erred in refusing to grant all of his publicrecords requests; that the judge in the collateral proceeding below should have recusedhimself; that defense counsel was ineffective as to numerous particulars at the guilt andpenalty phases of the original trial; that there should have been a finding of incompetenceto stand trial; that the expert mental health assistance to the defense at trial wasinadequate; that there were numerous legal errors at the trial and in sentencing; and othermatters.