DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) -A serial killer who took the lives of three people at a Houston County nightclub returned to the courtroom where he had been sentenced to death.
The hearing will determine whether Ryan Clark Petersen receives a retrial and is expected to continue on Monday.
Ryan Clark Petersen – Petersen was convicted of the 2012 Teaser’s Club shooting that killed three people.(ADOC)
Petersen filed a Rule 32 motion, which alleges he did not receive a fair trial when a jury convicted him in the 2012 shootings at Teasers Hard Rock Cabaret, a gentlemen’s club midway between Dothan and Enterprise.
These legal efforts are common in cases involving the death penalty or life in prison, as Petersen and the other inmates have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
The trial of a man accused of shooting three people to death at a Houston County nightclub is set to begin today. Ryan Clark Petersen who is now 27 could be sentenced to die if convicted.(WTVY News 4)
Petersen hopes to convince Houston County Circuit Judge Todd Derrick that his attorneys, Ben Freeman and Christopher Capps, committed legal blunders that may have led to his convictions on three counts of capital murder and one count of felony assault.
Freeman and Capps are expected to testify on Monday and are highly likely to deny the allegations.
Petersen claims his conviction in the deaths of three people in a Houston County nightclub in 2012 was due to ineffective counsel.
Killed on Aug. 9, 2012, were Teasers employee Tiffani Paige Grissett, 31; the owner’s son, Cameron Eubanks, 20; and patron Thomas Robins Jr., 59, of Dothan. A fourth victim was wounded and survived.
Freeman and Capps tried to convince jurors that Petersen was not in control of his actions when he walked from the club about midnight, fetched a gun from his car, and began shooting as he reentered Teasers.
They presented expert testimony that Petersen did not understand the implications of his actions and needed medication.
The Rule 32 hearing had been postponed, including once when Petersen apparently refused transport to Dothan. However, under close security, he was in the courtroom on Friday.
Derrick inherited the case from Alabama Supreme Court Justice Brad Mendheim, who was a Houston County circuit judge in 2016 when jurors convicted Petersen, an Enterprise resident.
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