Alderman v. Terry, 04-14595.

• Decision Date: 30 October 2006
• Docket Number: No. 04-14595.,04-14595.
• Parties: Jack E. ALDERMAN, Petitioner-Appellant, v. William TERRY, Warden, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

468 F.3d 775

Jack E. ALDERMAN, Petitioner-Appellant, v. William TERRY, Warden, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 04-14595.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

October 30, 2006.

Thomas H. Dunn (Court-Appointed), GA Resource Ctr., Atlanta, GA, for Alderman.

Susan V. Boleyn, State Law Dept., Atlanta, GA, for Terry.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.

Before TJOFLAT, ANDERSON and CARNES, Circuit Judges.

TJOFLAT, Circuit Judge:

The petitioner, Jack E. Alderman, is a Georgia prisoner on death row, having been convicted of the 1974 murder of his wife, Barbara J. Alderman, in the Superior Court of Chatham County, Georgia. On July 16, 2004, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia denied his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, and he appealed. We granted his application for a certificate of appealability as to one issue: whether Alderman's trial attorneys denied him the effective assistance of counsel in the penalty phase of his sentencing proceedings by failing to investigate and present to the jury his social-history background.¹

From the time of the murder to the present appeal, this case has extended over thirty-two years. Needless to say, the procedural history of this case is extensive and complex. For the sake of clarity, we organize the opinion as follows: part I provides the factual background and procedural history of the case; part II focuses on Alderman's 1984 re-sentencing trial; part III outlines Alderman's ineffective assistance claim, the evidence presented to the Superior Court of Butts County, Georgia at the evidentiary hearing it held on the claim, and that court's findings of fact and conclusions of law; part IV spells out Alderman's challenge to those findings and conclusions and explains why we cannot overturn them and, therefore, must deny the relief that Alderman seeks.

I.

A.

The following statement of facts is an excerpt from Alderman v. Zant, 22 F.3d 1541, 1544-46 (11th Cir.1994).²

The Petitioner, Jack E. Alderman ("Alderman"), and his wife, Barbara Alderman ("Mrs. Alderman"), lived in an apartment in Chatham County[,] Georgia. Alderman was employed as an assistant manager at the local Piggly Wiggly supermarket. Mrs. Alderman was employed in the Tax Assessor's office for the City of Savannah. In conjunction with her employment, Mrs. Alderman maintained a $10,000.00 life insurance policy that paid double benefits in the event of accidental death. Mrs. Alderman also had another life insurance policy in the amount of $25,000.00 which named her mother as beneficiary.

Alderman met John Arthur Brown ("Brown"), later convicted as an accessory to Mrs. Alderman's murder, when both Alderman and Brown were employed in the vehicle maintenance department for the City of Savannah. Brown testified that on September 19, 1974, Alderman phoned Brown and asked him to meet him at the Piggly Wiggly supermarket. Brown stated that during this meeting Alderman asked Brown to kill Mrs. Alderman in exchange for half the insurance proceeds. Brown, although claiming not to take Alderman seriously, accepted the proposition.

On Saturday, September 21, 1974, Alderman asked Brown to come to his apartment. When Brown arrived, Alderman handed Brown a twelve-inch crescent wrench and instructed Brown to go into the bedroom and kill Mrs. Alderman. Testimony indicates that Brown was initially reluctant, but agreed to strike Mrs. Alderman when persuaded by the gun wielding Alderman. Brown entered the dining room and struck Mrs. Alderman in the head with the wrench. Mrs. Alderman cried out and ran into the living room where she confronted her husband. Alderman tackled Mrs. Alderman, then assisted by Brown, placed his hands over Mrs. Alderman's nose and mouth until she was unconscious.

Alderman and Brown carried Mrs. Alderman's limp body to the bathroom and placed it in the bathtub. Alderman started to fill the tub while Brown cleaned the blood stains from both the living and dining rooms. Alderman and Brown changed clothes and left the apartment for several hours. The two men went to the Piggly Wiggly supermarket where Alderman borrowed $100.00. Alderman and Brown then went to two local Savannah bars. At some time during the evening Alderman gave Brown the $100.00.

Alderman and Brown returned to the apartment around 10:00 p.m., removed Mrs. Alderman's body from the bathtub and wrapped it in a green quilt. The two men carried the body to Alderman's 1974 Pontiac and placed it in the trunk. Brown drove Alderman's car as Alderman followed on his motorcycle. Alongside a creek in Rincon, Georgia, Brown and Alderman removed the body from the trunk and placed it in the driver's seat. At Alderman's direction, Brown reached in the driver's window and released the emergency brake allowing the car to roll into the creek. The car stopped halfway into the creek. Again at Alderman's direction, Brown opened the car door, pulled Mrs. Alderman's body halfway out and allowed her face to fall into the creek. The two men removed the green quilt and the rubber trunk mat from the car and fled the scene on Alderman's motorcycle.

Later that evening, on September 21, 1974, Randy Hodges ("Hodges") and Terry Callahan ("Callahan") were driving home on Baker Hill Road and Highway 131. As they turned onto Highway 131 and approached Dasher's Creek, they noticed a car in the creek. Hodges jumped out, saw that there was a woman in the car and sent Callahan to Lamar Rahn's house to call for help. Effingham County Sheriff Lloyd Fulcher ("Fulcher") responded to the call. Upon his arrival at the scene, Fulcher found the victim's car in the water adjacent to the bridge. Fulcher noticed no apparent physical damage to the car. He ordered Mrs. Alderman's body to be removed from the car and taken to the hospital. Fulcher observed that there were no skid marks from the car but that motorcycle tracks were apparent in the area. Fulcher also noticed blood stains on the seat of the car and that the trunk mat was missing.

At the direction of Fulcher, Garden City police officer J.D. Crosby ("Crosby") went to Alderman's apartment only to find it locked. Crosby later returned to the apartment at approximately 2:30 a.m. and found Alderman there with a woman. Crosby informed Alderman that his wife had been involved in a traffic accident, and asked him to accompany Effingham County authorities to the hospital. Georgia Bureau of Investigation Agent H.H. Keadle ("Keadle") was present at the Effingham County hospital. Keadle and Fulcher noticed red/brown stains in the seat and crotch of Alderman's pants and on his belt. At that time, Alderman's clothes were taken from him.

Keadle's investigation confirmed Crosby's findings at the accident scene. Keadle also recovered a stained portion of a green rug and Alderman's motorcycle helmet, which had been removed from the Alderman's apartment by Mrs. Alderman's mother. Alderman's father, Jack Alderman, Sr., also gave the police the twelve inch crescent wrench that he had removed from Alderman's apartment.

Forensic Serologist Elizabeth Quarles, of the Georgia State Crime Laboratory, examined the blood found on Alderman's clothes. The blood type was consistent with Mrs. Alderman's blood. An examination of the vehicle revealed one palm print and four fingerprints which were stipulated as Alderman's. Brown's fingerprints, however, were not found on the car.

Dr. Charles Sullinger ("Dr. Sullinger") performed the autopsy upon Mrs. Alderman's body. Dr. Sullinger concluded that the laceration on the back of Mrs. Alderman's head was inflicted by a blunt instrument. Dr. Sullinger also concluded that because there existed only a small amount of blood in the car, the blow to Mrs. Alderman's head did not occur as a result of the accident. Dr. Sullinger found no evidence of any abnormalities in the heart, no scratches on the forearms and no evidence of strangulation. Dr. Sullinger concluded that the liquid in Mrs. Alderman's lungs revealed that Mrs. Alderman died as a result of asphyxia due to drowning.

Keadle's investigation led him to Brown. Brown eventually gave a statement incriminating himself and Alderman. At trial, Alderman testified on his own behalf and denied that he killed his wife. Alderman testified that on the night of September 21, 1974, he and his wife had an argument and that he left the apartment alone. He allegedly took a bus to Savannah where he spent some time at two local bars. Alderman testified that he returned home at approximately 10:00 p.m. but his wife was not at home. Alderman decided to go to Rincon, Georgia to see if Mrs. Alderman was at her grandparent's home. A more complete version of Alderman's defense may be found in Alderman v. State, 241 Ga. 496, 246 S.E.2d 642, 644-45, cert. denied, 439 U.S. 991, 99 S.Ct. 593, 58 L.Ed.2d 666 (1978), reh'g denied, 439 U.S. 1122, 99 S.Ct. 1036, 59 L.Ed.2d 84 (1979).

Alderman testified that on his way to Rincon, he observed his car on the side of the bridge at Dasher's Creek. Alderman stopped his motorcycle and went to the car where he discovered his wife's body. Alderman stated that he picked up Mrs. Alderman's head and placed it in his lap. Upon hearing a noise, Alderman fled the scene in shock and fear. Alderman allegedly forgot about his wife's body, drove to Savannah and returned to a local bar. Alderman then went to Johnny Ganem's for breakfast with friends. While at breakfast, Alderman offered Gerlina Carmack (the female present in the Alderman's apartment when Officer J.D. Crosby arrived) a ride home. Alderman had allegedly stopped at his apartment to pick up a jacket when the police arrived and took him to the hospital where he identified his wife's body.

Alderman testified that he did not know why he had left his wife's body in the creek; that he recalled nothing of his trip back to Savannah; and, the fact that his wife was dead had completely left his mind. Appellant...