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In the

Indiana Supreme Court
David Leon WOODS, Petitioner, v. STATE of Indiana, Respondent. ) ) ) ) ) ) Supreme Court Cause No. 06S00-0612-SD-544 Boone Superior Court S 7007

PUBLISHED ORDER CONCERNING SUCCESSIVE PETITION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF IN CAPITAL CASE Introduction Having exhausted the judicial review to which he is entitled as a matter of right, David Leon Woods remains sentenced to death for the intentional killing of an elderly DeKalb County man during a robbery. Before us now is Woods's request to litigate a second, or "successive" post-conviction proceeding involving two claims: (1) that he is exempt from the death penalty because he is mentally retarded, and (2) that his first state post-conviction proceeding was unfair because he had a dispute with his attorneys about strategy. Because we conclude Woods has not met the threshold showing required on either claim, we deny authorization for any further successive post-conviction proceedings. A date for execution of the sentence will be set by separate order. Background On April 7, 1984, in Garrett, Indiana, Woods, along with Greg Sloan and Pat Sweet, devised a plan to steal Juan Placencia's television. Placencia, age 77, was an acquaintance of Woods and his mother. Woods, Sloan and Sweet went to Placencia's home. Woods was armed with a knife, but assured Sloan and Sweet that he intended only to scare Placencia with it. While Sweet stayed in the yard, Woods and Sloan approached the apartment and rang the doorbell. When Placencia opened the door, Woods immediately jumped in and stabbed him several times with the knife. Placencia fell back into a chair, directed the intruders to his money, and began asking for help. Woods took $130 from Placencia's wallet, then stabbed Placencia again repeatedly--twenty-one times to the face, neck, and torso. An autopsy showed Placencia died from three stabs wounds to the heart and one through the skull to the brain. Woods and Sloan left Placencia's apartment with the cash Woods had taken and a television they later sold for $20. They also washed their clothes and threw the knife and other incriminating items in a creek. Woods was charged with murder and robbery. See Ind. Code

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