Tuscaloosa Man Convicted Of 1993 Murder Once Again Appealing Death Sentence

TUSCALOOSA, AL — A Tuscaloosa man convicted of capital murder in a 1993 shooting is appealing his death sentence, claiming that his defense failed to give him proper representation at trial.

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Albert Mack III, who is one of four Tuscaloosa County residents on death row in Alabama, was convicted in 1995 of murdering Patrick Cory Holman during a robbery a couple of years before, which ultimately saw a trial jury vote of 10 to 2 to recommend that Mack be sentenced to death.

Earlier this month, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court's order granting, in part, Mack's post-conviction petition and setting aside Mack's sentence of death, while dismissing Mack's appeal challenging the constitutionality of his death sentence.

In his most recent appeal, Mack alleges that he received ineffective assistance from his trial counsel — former Tuscaloosa County District Attorney Wayne Williams and John Sutton — during the penalty phase of his 1995 capital-murder trial.

As for the details of the case, Patrick Cory Holman, 24, a resident of Creekside Apartments, was shot in the back of the head in July 1993 and his body was found partially burned in the trunk of a 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass that was abandoned at the entrance of the Royal Pines Subdivision on Sanders Ferry Road.

Robbery was believed to have been the primary motive for Mack to kill Holman and was the underlying felony that saw his charge elevated to capital murder.

Roy Craig Jr., who was 24 at the time of Holman's murder, was also initially charged with capital murder in connection to the case but was eventually acquitted.

Longtime Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge John England presided over Craig's murder trial and told Craig that he got himself into such a situation by being around people with guns.

The Tuscaloosa News reported that England cautioned Craig "not to let it happen again," before saying unironically "I hope this is the last time I will see you in court."

Indeed, the same year Craig was acquitted of murder in Holman's death, he was charged and later sentenced to 30 years in prison in 1999 for shooting a man in an unrelated incident.

Mack argued on appeal that while he did shoot Holman in the back of the head and kill him, it was out of fear that Holman and his cousin Carlos Green intended to harm Mack and Craig after Craig had sold Holman "approximately $500 of bad dope."

Witnesses at the time of Holman's death told investigators that he was driving a 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass owned by his sister when he was shot, in addition to telling police that the two suspects took money and a 9mm handgun from Holman.

One witness fought through tears on the stand as she testified that Mack told her about how he, Holman, Craig and Holman's cousin Carlos Green left a party and went to a store.

She then said when they "walked out [Holman] had a look in his eye that he was going to do something to [Mack] ... like he was going to set him up."

The woman — one of 12 witnesses to take the stand at trial — said Mack told her he shot Holman in the back of the head and "his intention was to shoot the other guy too, but there were too many people."

Despite these details corroborated by witness testimony, including Holman's body being set on fire, Tuscaloosa Homicide Unit investigator John Steele testified that forensic records indicated that the fingerprints taken from the trunk of the Oldsmobile where Holman's body was burned did not belong to Mack.

The brutal nature of the crime and its legal battles in the aftermath made the story a popular topic of local news coverage three decades ago, especially after Mack's documented involvement in the Tuscaloosa County Jail's "scared straight" program that aimed to educate local youth on the pitfalls they could face as a result of poor decisions.

Indeed, former Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ted Sexton, who eventually transported Mack to death row, testified that in his time as sheriff, he had organized the program to help high-risk youths regain control of their lives.

Sexton said he would organize tours of the jail and that he had asked Mack to speak to those groups, going on to say that the condemned man had spoken to over a thousand kids.

An editorial published in December 1995 in the Tuscaloosa News also lauded Mack's involvement with young people.

"If there is any redeeming value to this man, that is it," the editorial said. "Give him the forum."

Apart from his involvement in the scared straight program, Mack also reportedly assisted with a security breach at the jail that involved an employee of the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office having sex with a man who had been charged with capital murder.

"We worry about what a child will be tomorrow, the pains and emotions they go through, the misunderstanding, but yet we forget that he or she is someone today," Mack wrote in a letter to the editor published in the Tuscaloosa News in 1996. "Why? Because up to a point a child's life is shaped by things around them. Environment, heredity and movements and changes in the world about them. ... Only the weak blame parents, their race, their times, lack of good fortune or whatever excuse you want to use. Everyone has it within his power to say this I am today, and one day I shall be that tomorrow."

While many viewed Mack's efforts as commendable and indicative of a remorseful change of heart, Holman's mother — Carolyn Cannon — reminded a reporter from the Tuscaloosa News that he had still murdered her son in cold blood.

"I feel sorry for his mother, but it's not right that he took my son's life," Cannon said after Mack was convicted. "Everybody failed to remember the impact he's had on my life."

Wayne Williams, Mack's defense attorney, previously testified as to the legal team's approach during the penalty phase, saying they believed they'd provided sufficient evidence to show that Mack had changed his life and was making a difference in the lives of others following his conviction.

Mack has appealed his sentence several times over the years and has been denied each time.

"We went with a strategy that if we could get law enforcement people to come sit on this stand and swear under oath that Albert Mack was serving a useful service to our community by trying to defer other people, particularly young people from crime, that that would be ... something that a juror could consider in not giving [Mack] the death penalty," Williams said.

This strategy, Williams conceded, was also not without risk as it opened the door for prosecutors to present evidence indicating that Mack had been involved in several physical altercations while in the Tuscaloosa County Jail.

Mack also had a criminal record prior to the fatal shooting, with an unspecified conviction in California, in addition to being "separated" from service in the United State Marine Corps after punching a non-commissioned officer while drunk.

Other tactics Mack says were overlooked at trial by his defense team involved his abusive childhood and issues with the Alabama Department of Human Resources that resulted in his situation falling through the cracks during his youth.

The last Tuscaloosa native to be put to death for capital murder was Eddie Duval Powell in the summer of 2011 after he was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering a 70-year-old Holt woman in 1995.

Mack remains on death row at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore.

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