Davis v. Workman, No. 11-6022 (10th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this Case
An Oklahoma jury convicted Defendant Brian Darrell Davis of the first-degree murder and rape of Josephine “Jody” Sanford, the mother of his girlfriend Stacey Sanford. On the recommendation of the jury, Defendant received a 100-year prison sentence for the rape and a death sentence for the murder. After unsuccessfully appealing to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) and pursuing postconviction relief in state court, Defendant unsuccessfully sought relief under 28 U.S.C. 2254 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. The district court denied a certificate of appealability (COA) but the Tenth Circuit granted a COA on two issues: whether Defendant’s statements to police officers while he was hospitalized were knowing, intelligent, and voluntary; and whether his counsel was ineffective in failing to present scientific evidence that he was impaired while making those statements. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit affirmed on
those issues because the OCCA did not unreasonably determine the facts or unreasonably apply federal law in rejecting these claims. The Court also denied Defendant’s Motion for Additional Issues in COA because no reasonable jurist could have disputed the district court’s resolution of the issues raised in the motion. The Court did, however, grant a COA on a claim that Defendant apparently thought was encompassed by its prior grant of a COA (the claim that his counsel was ineffective for failing to argue that police officers coerced him into making his hospital statements by withholding pain medication). But the Court affirmed the denial of the claim.
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.