[PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

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No. 18-13467 ____________________

DEMARCUS ALI SEARS, Petitioner-Appellant, versus WARDEN GDCP,

Respondent-Appellee.

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Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia D.C. Docket No. 1:10-cv-01983-TWT ____________________

Before JORDAN, ROSENBAUM, and JILL PRYOR, Circuit Judges. USCA11 Case: 18-13467 Document: 61-1 Date Filed: 07/19/2023 Page: 2 of 73

2 Opinion of the Court 18-13467

PER CURIAM: Petitioner Demarcus Ali Sears sits on death row in Georgia following his convictions for kidnapping with bodily injury and armed robbery. He appeals the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The district court and this Court have granted Sears certificates of appealability on nine combined issues. After a thorough review of the record and with the benefit of oral argument, we reverse the district court’s denial of Sears’s habeas petition and remand for a new penalty-phase proceeding.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Facts of Conviction The tragic facts underlying Gloria Wilbur’s rape and murder and Sears’s conviction for it are set forth in detail in Sears v. State, 493 S.E.2d 180, 182–83 (Ga. 1997) (“Sears II”). 1 For the reader’s convenience, we summarize them below. On October 7, 1990, Sears and Phillip Williams were stranded in Atlanta after their car broke down. Id. at 182. Trying to return home to Ohio, Sears and Williams entered a Waffle House in Smyrna, Georgia, and asked several patrons for money. Id. They told the patrons that their car had broken down and they

1 Before Sears filed his direct appeal, the Supreme Court of Georgia adjudi- cated several pretrial issues he raised on interim review. Sears v. State, 426 S.E.2d 553 (Ga. 1993) (“Sears I”). USCA11 Case: 18-13467 Document: 61-1 Date Filed: 07/19/2023 Page: 3 of 73

18-13467 Opinion of the Court 3

were trying to get to Cincinnati. Id. Sears was carrying a briefcase that contained brass knuckles, a few knives, and a set of old hand- cuffs. Id. He tried to sell some of the items in the suitcase to make money. Id. Eventually, a customer gave Sears and Williams direc- tions and a few dollars for bus fare. Id. The two decided to go to a nearby Kroger instead, where they were approached by a police officer who saw them loitering outside the Kroger. Id. The officer briefly spoke with them but left after receiving a call on his radio. Id. Shortly afterward, Sears and Williams decided to steal a car to get back to Ohio. Id. The pair targeted Ms. Wilbur after they saw her park her car and enter the Kroger. Id. Around 8:00 p.m. that evening, Ms. Wil- bur returned to her car and put her groceries in her trunk. Id. Sears approached Ms. Wilbur, hit her with his brass knuckles, and forced her into the car. 2 Id. Williams got into the driver’s seat and headed north on I-75. Id. Sears