Mitchell v. Enloe, No. 14-2946 (7th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseIn 1995, Neal was working on Mitchell’s car in the backyard of Neal’s home when Mitchell hit Neal in the head with a brick, causing Neal’s death. Mitchell asserted that Neal had attacked him with a wrench. A post‐mortem toxicology report revealed that Neal had been using alcohol and cocaine. The prosecution presented forensic evidence and a witness (also using alcohol and drugs at the time of the incident) to refute Mitchell’s claim of self‐defense. A jury convicted Mitchell of first degree murder. The court sentenced him to 57 years in prison. After unsuccessful direct appeal and state post-conviction proceedings, Mitchell unsuccessfully sought federal habeas relief, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel and a due process violation. The Seventh CIrcuit affirmed. Mitchell did not show that his trial counsel acted unreasonably in failing to request a second-degree murder “provocation” jury instruction or that he was prejudiced by counsel’s decision. The due process claim, concerning an unsworn, unsigned affidavit, which avers that the state offered not to charge the witness as an accessory to murder in exchange for her testimony against Mitchell, was procedurally defaulted.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.