Lawhorn v. Allen

• Citation: 519 F.3d 1272
• Decision Date: 11 March 2008
• Docket Number: No. 04-11711.,04-11711.
• Parties: James Charles LAWHORN, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Richard F. ALLEN, Commissioner, Alabama Dept. of Corrections, Attorney General of Alabama, Respondents-Appellants.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)

519 F.3d 1272

James Charles LAWHORN, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Richard F. ALLEN, Commissioner, Alabama Dept. of Corrections, Attorney General of Alabama, Respondents-Appellants.

No. 04-11711.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

March 11, 2008.

Kevin Christopher Newsom, Bradley, Arant, Rose & White, LLP, Birmingham, AL, Beth Jackson Hughes, Montgomery, AL, for Respondents-Appellants.

Richard L. Neumeier, Morrison, Mahoney & Miller, LLP, Boston, MA, for Lawhorn.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

Before BIRCH, BARKETT and WILSON, Circuit Judges.

BIRCH, Circuit Judge:

An Alabama jury found petitioner James Charles Lawhorn ("Lawhorn") guilty of capital murder and recommended that he be sentenced to death. The state circuit court judge adopted that recommendation and sentenced Lawhorn to death. After exhausting his state court remedies, Lawhorn filed a federal habeas corpus petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The district court granted in part and denied in part Lawhorn's habeas petition, and the state appealed.¹ After a thorough review of the record, and having the benefit of oral argument and the parties' briefs, we REVERSE the district court's judgment granting Lawhorn habeas relief by suppressing his confession, and AFFIRM the district court's judgment granting Lawhorn habeas relief on the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Facts²

During the late morning of 31 March 1988, Sylacauga, Alabama Police Officer Kenneth Brasher observed some people arguing across the street from the gas station where he had stopped. He saw a woman in a truck that belonged to Altion Maxine Walker, and also saw William Clarence Berry run and get into his automobile while being chased by James Charles Lawhorn, Walker's nephew. Lawhorn I, 581 So.2d 1159, 1161 (Ala. Crim.App.1990); R1-17, Tab 9 at 287-294.

About 3:30-4:00 P.M. that same day, Grover C. Williams saw a truck turn toward him off Highway 148 and onto a dirt road. Id. at 294-96. Williams said that there were three "fairly young people" sitting in the front seat of the truck cab and "at least one of them" had a "heavy beard." Id. at 295-96.

Mona Lisa Jones, who lived across a road from Collier's Store, on Highway 148 east of Sylacauga near Wiregrass Road, said that she and her husband followed a red car and a truck on the road out from Sylacauga toward their house. Id. at 282. The car was driven by a man; the truck was driven by a woman. After both drivers got out of their vehicles to buy drinks from a machine in front of the store, they got into the truck and drove away. Id. at 283-84. Around 3:30-4:00 P.M., William Collier, the owner of Collier's Store, returned from a trip to Sylacauga to find a car sitting in front of his closed store. Id. at 279-80. The car remained in front of Collier's Store until it was towed by police officers on 2 April.

On 2 April, Berry's body was found in a wooded area off Wiregrass Road near Sylacauga, Alabama. An autopsy revealed forehead abrasions and 27 gunshot wounds from a pistol or a rifle and a shotgun. Lawhorn v. State, 581 So.2d 1159, 1161 (Ala.Crim.App.1990) ("Lawhorn I"). "The cause of death was `multiple gunshot and shotgun wounds'" because "[t]he wounds from either weapon would have been fatal."³ Id. That evening and in the following days, a shotgun, pistol, and shells were recovered from Walker's residence. A firearms expert noted that the spent shotgun shells found near the victim's body had the "same class characteristics" as the shotgun recovered from Walker's residence, but was unable to say with absolute certainty whether the spent shells were fired from the shotgun. Id. He was, however, able to determine that the spent .25 auto-caliber projectiles recovered from the victim's body were fired from the pistol. A fingerprint expert matched a print lifted from the exterior passenger door of Walker's truck to Lawhorn.

That evening, Lawhorn was interviewed by Frankie Wallis, an investigator with the Talladega County Sheriff's Department.⁴ R1-17, Exh. Tab 9 at 332. Wallis advised Lawhorn of his constitutional rights using a standard Miranda form.⁵ Id. at 332-33; Tab 10a at 335-337, 387-88, 392. After he was advised of his rights, Lawhorn indicated that he understood his rights, and answered "[y]es" when asked whether he wished to talk to Wallis and the other officers at that time. Id., Tab 9 at 336; Tab 10a at 388. He then executed a waiver form, witnessed by Wallis, and made a statement. Id., Tab 9 at 336-37; Tab 10a at 388. In the statement, Lawhorn said that he had stayed with Walker for several nights and that he had met Berry, who he understood was Walker's boyfriend. Id. at Tab 9 at 337-38. After he was asked about being seen by Brasher during the morning of 31 March, Lawhorn said that he wanted a lawyer and all questioning stopped. Id. at 338. Lawhorn was then arrested for Berry's murder and placed in the Talladega County Jail.⁶ Id., Tab 4 at 6. Lawhorn, however, did not talk to a lawyer at that time or before he next saw Wallis on 7 April.

On 7 April, Wallis and Ann Wallace, an employee of the Talladega District Attorney's office, were walking past Lawhorn's cell when Lawhorn called to Wallis and told him that he wanted to talk. Id., Tab 9 at 340-41; Tab 10a at 371-70. Wallis explained to Lawhorn that he could not talk to Lawhorn because he had asked for an attorney but Lawhorn said that he wanted to waive his rights, talk to Wallis, and tell him what had happened. Id., Tab 9 at 341. Wallis told Lawhorn that he was busy but that he would get back with Lawhorn, and Lawhorn responded by telling Wallis to come back. Id. at 341-42.

That afternoon, Wallis, Wallace, and Lieutenant Billy Joe Pope met with Lawhorn. Id. at 343, 348; Tab 10a at 389, 394-95. Wallis again advised Lawhorn of his Miranda rights and Lawhorn stated that he understood his rights and wished to waive them. Id., Tab 9 at 342-45, 348; Tab 10a at 350-51, 389-91. Lawhorn signed a waiver and wrote on it that he did not want a lawyer. Id., Tab 9 at 345-46; Tab 10a at 352, 391. Lawhorn's waiver was then signed by Pope, Wallace, and Wallis as witnesses. Id., Tab 9 at 345-46; Tab 10a at 391. Lawhorn then made two statements. The first statement was made about 3:55 P.M. At that time, Lawhorn stated that Walker tried to hire him to kill Berry but that he would not do it. Id., Tab 9 at 347-48; Tab 10a at 352, 392, 394. After a break in conversation and after Lawhorn was encouraged to tell the truth, Lawhorn made the second statement about 5:40 P.M. Id., Tab 9 at 348; Tab 10a at 352-54, 392-93. Between the two statements that afternoon, the officers did not readminister a Miranda warning, but "referred back" to the Miranda warning given to Lawhorn earlier that same day. Id., Tab 9 at 348-49.

In the second statement, Lawhorn described in detail his participation in Berry's murder. He said that, during the week when he was staying with Walker, Walker told him that she was scared of Berry and, almost daily, had offered to pay Lawhorn to "get rid" of Berry. Lawhorn I, 581 So.2d at 1162. He said that, while they were out running errands, they picked up Lawhorn's brother, Mac Lawhorn ("Mac"), and Walker asked Mac if he was interested in earning some money. After Mac answered "[y]es" and asked what the job involved, Walker explained that she wanted to "[g]et rid of [Berry]." R1-17, Exh. Tab 10a at 410. Walker had Mac lie down in the truck while they drove to retrieve a shotgun and shells from the automobile of Walker's son, Robert Kilgore. Id. at 410-12. Walker then drove Lawhorn and Mac to a wooded area which she and Berry had visited. Lawhorn and Mac got out of the truck and waited in the woods while Walker went to get Berry. Lawhorn carried a pistol taken from Walker's truck; Mac loaded and then carried the shotgun.

Walker returned with Berry, and then she left the truck to go across the road. Berry initially started across the road with Walker and then began running down the road. Walker found Lawhorn and Mac and told them that Berry had run away. She then got into the driver's seat of her truck and had Lawhorn and Mac lie down in the truck bed. She told Lawhorn and Mac that, when she caught up with Berry, she would slam on the brakes.

When she slammed on the brakes, Mac "raised up" in the truck and shot Berry. Lawhorn I, 581 So.2d at 1162. Berry fell but got up and ran towards the woods. Lawhorn stated that Mac then shot at Berry again. After Berry fell, Lawhorn walked over to Berry and heard him making "gurgling noises." Id. at 1163. Lawhorn said that he shot Berry about three times to "make sure he was dead." Id. Lawhorn and Mac then got back into the truck, Walker put the pistol and the shells into a sack, and they returned to town.

About 5:30 P.M., Lawhorn and Kilgore went to the murder scene to look for the pistol or shotgun shells because Lawhorn did not want to leave any evidence at the scene. They did not find any and went to Walker's house. Kilgore instructed Walker to clean the shotgun and get the pistol but found out that Walker had given the pistol to Mac to discard. Lawhorn called Mac, and then went with Walker to Lawhorn's mother's house to retrieve the pistol. Walker waited in the truck while Lawhorn got the pistol. When they returned to Walker's house, Kilgore took the pistol and said that he would take care of it. The next morning, Lawhorn went to the bank with Walker. She paid Lawhorn $50 "for `getting rid' of Berry." Id. at 1164.

A complaint charging Lawhorn with intentionally causing the death of Berry pursuant to a contract with Walker for consideration of $100, in violation of Ala.Code 13A-5-40(a)(7), and an arrest warrant were issued on 8 April 1988. R1-17, Exh. Tab 4 at 5, 9.⁷ Lawhorn submitted an affidavit of indigency, and on 10 May 1988, attorney Steven D. Giddens was appointed to represent him.⁸ R1-17, Exh. Tab 4 at 7-8. Lawhorn was...