Mr. Kilgore was sentenced to death for the 1989 murder of fellow prison inmate, Emerson Jackson, who was fatally stabbed. At the time, Mr. Kilgore was serving two life sentences for a 1978 murder and kidnapping. Those crimes were part of the justification for his death sentence in the 1989 murder. During public records litigation in the collateral attack of the capital murder conviction and sentence, state attorney notes of interviews from the 1978 case were turned over to Mr. Kilgore. On the basis of these notes, Mr. Kilgore challenged the validity of his 1978 convictions and sentences. The state opposed that effort, arguing state law did not allow Mr. Kilgore's state-paid lawyers to challenge a non-capital conviction. The trial court agreed with the state and dismissed the challenge; the Second District Court of Appeal overturned the trial judge and asked this Court to rule on the issue.