Battle v. US, 03-14908.

• Decision Date: 10 August 2005
• Docket Number: No. 03-14908.,03-14908.
• Citation: 419 F.3d 1292
• Parties: Anthony George BATTLE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

419 F.3d 1292

Anthony George BATTLE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 03-14908.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

August 10, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

A. Shane Nichols, William E. Hoffmann, Jr. (Court-Appointed), King & Spalding, LLP, Atlanta, GA, Margaret O'Donnell (Court-Appointed), McNally & O'Donnell, P.S.C., Frankfort, KY, for Battle.

Amy Levin Weil, William L. McKinnon, Atlanta, GA, for U.S.

Before EDMONDSON, Chief Judge, and BIRCH and BLACK, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

We hereby withdraw entirely our earlier opinion in this case.

Defendant-Appellant Anthony George Battle appeals from the denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion collaterally attacking his second murder conviction and accompanying death sentence, which were affirmed by this Court in United States v. Battle, 173 F.3d 1343 (11th Cir.1999). From a certificate of appealability Battle presents six arguments to persuade us that his death sentence was imposed improperly. None of the arguments persuade us, and we affirm the district court's judgment.

Background

I. The Facts Underlying Battle's Conviction

Battle was serving a life sentence for the 1987 sexual assault and murder of his wife, Minnie Foreman, a United States Marine stationed at Camp Lejune. By 1993 Battle had been placed in Cellhouse C at the United States Penitentiary-Atlanta ("USP-A"). On 21 December 1994, correctional officer D'Antonio Washington was found lying on the floor of Cellhouse C with blood spurting out of his head. Battle was seen nearby standing beside a vending machine, his clothes splattered with blood. Behind the same vending machine a hammer with fresh blood on it was found. DNA analysis revealed the that the blood on Battle's clothing and on the hammer belonged to Officer Washington. A USP-A inmate/trustee, who was authorized to carry tools, testified that he loaned the hammer to Battle because Battle said he needed it to fix something in his cell.

Battle confessed to a correctional officer that same day that Battle had killed Officer Washington. On 26 January 1995, federal agents interviewed Battle, who told the agents that he felt he was getting "bossed around" at USP-A and that he thought he might get more respect by killing officer Washington. Battle also told the agents he was happy about Officer Washington's death and had no remorse whatsoever. During the interview Battle made no mention of the delusions he later claimed contributed to the killing.

In November 1995, a grand jury indicted Battle for murder under 18 U.S.C. § 1118. The next month Battle filed a notice to rely on an insanity defense; the government noticed its intent to seek the death penalty in July 1996.

II. The Competency Determination¹

Before trial, Battle was evaluated by three defense experts and two government experts. The experts testified before a magistrate judge at the competency hearing, which lasted about twelve days.

The defense offered psychiatrists Drs. Davis and Woods, along with psychologist Dr. O'Hagan. Drs. Davis and Woods both interviewed Battle three times; Dr. O'Hagan interviewed Battle six times over a course of two months. Battle consistently reported a set of symptoms to the doctors: that he felt "pains and sensations" due to microchip implants that had been put inside his body by prison staff to monitor and control him. All defense experts agreed that, during testing, Battle generally was cooperative and fully oriented. The defense doctors all concluded Battle was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and was incompetent to stand trial.

The government offered psychiatrist Dr. Johnson and psychologist Dr. Hazelrigg, both of whom were employed by the Bureau of Prisons. This evaluation took place over seventy-five days during which Dr. Johnson saw Battle about forty times and Dr. Hazelrigg about fifty times. Battle was likewise cooperative with the government's experts and reported to them the same symptoms as he had given defense experts. Drs. Johnson and Hazelrigg also saw Battle again about two weeks before the competency hearing.

At the competency hearing Dr. Johnson testified that she disagreed with the defense experts' diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. She said it was difficult to diagnose schizophrenia in an outpatient setting and that the defense experts did not spend enough time with Battle to substantiate their diagnoses conclusively.² Both Drs. Johnson and Hazelrigg concluded that Battle suffered from personality disorders with schizotypal qualities but that he was not schizophrenic. These doctors opined that Battle was malingering in his symptom report about the implants and opined that he was competent to stand trial.

The magistrate judge issued a lengthy report recommending that Battle be found competent to stand trial. The district court "carefully reviewed the transcript and exhibits from the competency hearing and adopted the Report and Recommendation of the magistrate judge." Unites States v. Battle, 264 F.Supp.2d 1088, 1119 (N.D.Ga.2003). In concluding Battle was competent to stand trial, the district court found persuasive the seventy-five-day observations of Drs. Johnson and Hazelrigg and that Battle had not reported the implants to prison officials until after Washington's murder. Id. at 1119-20.

III. The Trial

The time between the competency hearing and the trial was about three and a half months. Rather than hold another competency hearing at the start of the trial, the district court decided to observe Battle in court during jury selection to determine if a further competency evaluation was needed. Battle initially protested his being present in the courtroom for jury selection, but after an involved colloquy with the court³ said, "Yes, I will participate in this . . . . I can be here." The court had ordered that Battle be medicated for the trial; but on the first morning of trial, the marshal reported to the court that Battle had refused to take his medication. The district court arranged to get advice on the psychiatric implications of Battle being unmedicated and ultimately discovered that Battle had not been on medication regularly or, at least, not for a long time. The court rescinded its order to medicate Battle involuntarily and ordered only that Battle be provided with medication during trial.⁴ After the first day of voir dire, the defense asked for a continuance to have Battle evaluated again by one of the defense experts. Denying the request, the district court concluded that its observation of and interaction with Battle "reinforced the Court's view that Defendant was competent to stand trial." Battle, 264 F.Supp.2d at 1128.⁵

At times during the trial, Battle exhibited disruptive behavior, mainly by speaking out in front of the jury to correct or to agree with a witness. And before the jury was brought in for opening statements, Battle told the court he wanted to be excused saying, "I'm not in agreement with my attorneys and the evidence that they have here on my behalf" and "there's more credible evidence I would have preferred to have here in this case." Battle then told the trial court that he felt "pains and sensations" and that it was difficult for him to stay focused. The court observed Battle rocking back and forth in his chair at times during the trial.

Battle frequently indicated dissatisfaction with his lawyers: his lawyers were unwilling to present a defense based upon the implants Battle said he believed to be inside him. Battle also indicated his dissatisfaction with his lawyers' intent to portray him as schizophrenic. Nonetheless, Battle's lawyers proceeded with an insanity defense at trial based on Battle's giving them "implicit authority early on in rambling conversation." Neither Battle nor his lawyers told the trial court that Battle disagreed with the presentation of an insanity defense.

Over the objection of his lawyers, Battle testified as the first defense witness at the guilt phase of trial. He confessed to the murder of Officer Washington and acknowledged that he knew it was wrong to kill another human being. Battle also told the jury about his belief in the implants. The jury found him guilty.

During the penalty phase of trial, the court excused two jurors for inappropriate behavior and replaced them — before penalty phase deliberations — with two alternate jurors who had been present during the presentation of evidence at both the guilt and penalty phases. Battle also testified at the penalty phase, where he told the jury about Officer Washington, "The guy, you know, he acted like a dog. You know, he talked to you like a dog and, you know, he died like a dog." The jury recommended the death penalty, and the court sentenced Battle accordingly. Upon receiving his death sentence, Battle responded, "Could I just do away with the appeals and everything at this moment?"

IV. The Appeals

Battle did appeal, however, raising thirteen separate issues on the direct appeal. We affirmed his conviction and sentence. United States v. Battle, 173 F.3d 1343, 1345 (11th Cir.1999). He later, in the district court under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, sought collateral review of the legality of his conviction and sentence. After reviewing the evidence adduced at trial, hearing testimony at the motion hearing and argument from counsel, the district court denied relief.

Discussion

In his argument that the district court erred in declining to set aside his conviction and death sentence, Battle raises six issues: (1) Whether the district court erred in finding Battle competent to stand trial and in failing to hold another competency hearing at the beginning of trial; (2) Whether Battle's Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights were violated by presentation of an insanity defense; (3)(a) Whether the indictment's failure to include capital statutory aggravating factors provides Battle with grounds for relief, and (b) Whether the Federal Death Penalty Act is...