Hedrick v. True

Decision Date31 March 2006
Docket NumberNo. 04-32.,04-32.
Citation443 F.3d 342
PartiesBrandon Wayne HEDRICK, Petitioner-Appellant, v. William Page TRUE, Warden, Sussex I State Prison, Respondent-Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Robert Edward Lee, Jr., Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center, Charlottesville, Virginia, for Appellant. Robert H. Anderson, III, Office of the Attorney General of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee.

ON BRIEF:

James O. Broccoletti, Zoby & Broccoletti, Norfolk, Virginia, for Appellant. Judith Williams Jagdmann, Attorney General of Virginia, Jerry P. Slonaker, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Robert Q. Harris, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee.

Before WIDENER and GREGORY, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge GREGORY wrote the opinion for the court in Parts I, II, and III, in which Judge WIDENER and Senior Judge HAMILTON joined. Senior Judge HAMILTON wrote the opinion for the court in Parts IV and V, in which Judge WIDENER joined. Judge GREGORY wrote a separate opinion dissenting in part from Part IV and concurring in the judgment only in Part V GREGORY, Circuit Judge, writing for the court in Parts I through III.

Brandon Wayne Hedrick was convicted by a Virginia jury of capital murder in the commission of robbery, rape, and forcible sodomy and sentenced to death. After an unsuccessful direct appeal and habeas petition in the Supreme Court of Virginia, Hedrick sought federal habeas corpus relief from the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. The district court dismissed all of Hedrick's claims. We granted certificates of appealability on Hedrick's claims that: (1) he received ineffective assistance of counsel in violation of his Sixth Amendment rights; (2) the government failed to disclose information favorable to Hedrick in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963); and (3) his execution is unconstitutional under Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 122 S.Ct. 2242, 153 L.Ed.2d 335 (2002). We affirm the dismissal of these claims.

I.

The Supreme Court of Virginia opinion affirming Hedrick's convictions contains a detailed narrative of the facts shown by the evidence presented at trial. See Hedrick v. Commonwealth, 257 Va. 328, 513 S.E.2d 634, 636-38 (1999) [hereinafter Hedrick I]. We briefly recount the relevant facts here.

On May 10, 1997, Hedrick and Trevor Jones spent the evening consuming alcohol, smoking crack cocaine and marijuana, and employing the services of four prostitutes. After driving the last two prostitutes back to downtown Lynchburg, Virginia, Hedrick and Jones saw Lisa Yvonne Crider. Jones knew that Crider's boyfriend was a crack cocaine dealer, and the two decided to pick Crider up, have sexual relations with her, and rob her of any crack cocaine in her possession. Crider voluntarily traveled with Hedrick and Jones back to Jones's apartment, where Jones paid Crider $50 to have sexual intercourse with him. Afterwards, Hedrick retrieved a shotgun from Jones's car at Jones's direction and robbed Crider of the $50 at gun-point. Hedrick and Jones handcuffed Crider, duct-taped her eyes and mouth, and led her out to Jones's truck. The three left the apartment around 1:00 a.m. Hedrick I, 513 S.E.2d at 636-37.

After driving for some time, Jones stopped the truck because Hedrick wanted to have sexual intercourse with Crider. Hedrick raped Crider after telling her not to "try anything" because he had a gun. Id. at 637. Afterwards, the two men decided to kill Crider, fearing retaliation from Crider's boyfriend for the rape. As they drove in search of a suitable location, Crider, pleading for her life, asked if there was anything she could do to keep them from killing her. Hedrick told Crider, "if you suck my dick, I'll think about it," at which point Crider performed oral sodomy on Hedrick. Id.

They continued driving until daybreak, when Jones stopped the truck near the James River. Jones led Crider to the riverbank, told Hedrick to "do what you got to do," and walked back to the truck. Id. Hedrick shot Crider and left with Jones. The two men fled Virginia in Jones's truck the next day. That evening, Crider's body was discovered at the James River with a shotgun wound to the face. About one week later, the authorities arrested Hedrick and Jones in Lincoln, Nebraska. Id. at 637-38.

At Hedrick's trial, the Commonwealth presented DNA and forensic evidence in addition to eyewitness testimony from Jones and others. Hedrick testified on his own behalf, discussing his extensive drug and alcohol use the day of the crime and in the months leading up to it, denying sexual contact with Crider after her abduction, and claiming that the shooting was accidental. Trial Tr. 464-79.1 The jury convicted Hedrick of capital murder in the commission of robbery, rape, and forcible sodomy; robbery; rape; forcible sodomy; abduction; and use of a firearm in the commission of murder. Hedrick I, 513 S.E.2d at 635.

At the sentencing phase of the trial, prosecutors called a number of witnesses to testify regarding Hedrick's behavior in jail, including his escape attempts and destruction of property. They presented evidence of Hedrick's past robberies involving knives and a shotgun and elicited testimony that Hedrick had used racial slurs to describe Crider and others after his arrest. See, e.g., Trial Tr. 693-96, 700. In mitigation, Hedrick's counsel called fifteen witnesses, including clergy, family members, friends, a former cell-mate, and a clinical psychologist. They spoke of Hedrick's remorse and lack of racial prejudice, and they asked that his life be spared. Witnesses stressed that he was respectful and helpful as a child, but had recently gone astray after falling in with a bad crowd and turning to drugs. Family members testified that Hedrick grew up in a normal, two-parent family where he learned right from wrong and was not abused in any way. See, e.g., Trial Tr. 708-10, 713-14, 732 ("He had wonderful parents."). Hedrick's mother testified to the difficulty her son had comprehending his reading and writing assignments from school, which caused him to fall behind his peers and drop out in ninth grade. Trial Tr. 758. She also discussed his problems with alcohol and drug use.

Dr. Gary Hawk, Hedrick's court-appointed clinical psychologist, testified at sentencing that Hedrick was significantly immature for his age and that he had a problem with drugs and alcohol that accelerated in the months leading up to the crimes. He noted Hedrick's low IQ score of 76, which was "far below average," although "not so low as to suggest mental retardation." J.A. 245. Dr. Hawk testified that Hedrick's lack of intelligence, immaturity, and intense drug abuse diminished his ability to reflect and deliberate at the time of the murder. Trial Tr. 791-92.

Finding both that Hedrick posed a "continuing serious threat to society" and that his conduct in committing the offenses was "outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved torture, depravity of mind, aggravated battery to the victim beyond the minimum necessary to accomplish the act of murder," the jury recommended a sentence of death for the capital murder offenses. Id. at 894 (applying Va.Code Ann. § 19.2-264.2). Under Virginia law, a finding of either of these aggravating factors alone is sufficient to support a death sentence. Swisher v. True, 325 F.3d 225, 232 n. 8 (4th Cir.2003) (citing Va.Code Ann. § 19.2-264.2 and Buchanan v. Angelone, 522 U.S. 269, 276, 118 S.Ct. 757, 139 L.Ed.2d 702 (1998)). The Circuit Court sentenced Hedrick to death according to the jury's recommendation.

On direct appeal, the Supreme Court of Virginia affirmed Hedrick's conviction on February 26, 1999. Hedrick I, 513 S.E.2d at 642. Hedrick then filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Supreme Court of Virginia, claiming, relevant here, that he had received ineffective assistance of counsel and that certain information was withheld from him in violation of Brady. J.A.2038-88. The court referred Hedrick's ineffective assistance claim to the Circuit Court of Appomattox County for an evidentiary hearing. After taking evidence, the Circuit Court submitted its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law to the Supreme Court of Virginia on August 16, 2001, concluding that Hedrick's ineffective assistance of counsel claims lacked merit. Id. at 2197-2233. Hedrick submitted objections to this report, and the Supreme Court of Virginia ordered briefing on Hedrick's petition. Hedrick briefed only the issues relating to ineffective assistance of counsel.

In June 2002, while Hedrick's state habeas petition was still pending, the United States Supreme Court decided Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 122 S.Ct. 2242, 153 L.Ed.2d 335 (2002). In Atkins, the Court established that the Eighth Amendment bars the execution of those who are mentally retarded. The Supreme Court of Virginia held oral argument on Hedrick's petition in September 2002. It dismissed his petition on November 1, 2002, adjudicating Hedrick's ineffective assistance of counsel claims on the merits, but finding his Brady claim defaulted for his failure to address it in his brief. Hedrick v. Warden, 264 Va. 486, 570 S.E.2d 840 (2002) [hereinafter Hedrick II]. Hedrick petitioned for rehearing on December 2, 2002, raising an Atkins claim for the first time. Pet. for Reh'g 10, Dec. 2, 2002. The Supreme Court of Virginia denied rehearing on January 10, 2003 without explanation. In April 2003, the Virginia General Assembly added sections 19.2-264.3:1.1 and 19.2-264.3:1.2 to the Virginia Code in response to Atkins, which established Virginia's framework for deciding claims of mental retardation. It also passed section 8.01-654.2, setting forth the procedures...

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