Campbell v. Bradshaw, 09–3444.

Citation674 F.3d 578
Decision Date20 April 2012
Docket NumberNo. 09–3444.,09–3444.
PartiesAlva E. CAMPBELL, Petitioner–Appellant, v. Margaret BRADSHAW, Warden, Respondent–Appellee.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit)

674 F.3d 578

Alva E. CAMPBELL, Petitioner–Appellant,
v.
Margaret BRADSHAW, Warden, Respondent–Appellee.

No. 09–3444.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: Oct. 6, 2011.Decided and Filed: March 20, 2012.Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied April 20, 2012.


[674 F.3d 583]

ARGUED: Justin C. Thompson, Federal Public Defender's Office, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant. Morgan A. Linn, Office of the Ohio Attorney General, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Justin C. Thompson, David C. Stebbins, Federal Public Defender's Office, Columbus, Ohio, Andrew J. King, Kelly L. Schneider, Ohio Public Defender's Office, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant. Morgan A. Linn, Office of the Ohio Attorney General, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellee.Before: MARTIN, GIBBONS, and McKEAGUE, Circuit Judges.

OPINION
JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge.

Petitioner-appellant Alva E. Campbell appeals the district court's order denying his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition for a writ of habeas corpus seeking relief from his death sentence. For the following reasons, we affirm the district court and deny Campbell's petition.

I.

The facts underlying Campbell's habeas case, as determined by the Ohio Supreme Court, are as follows:

In 1972, Campbell was convicted of murder in the first degree under former R.C. 2901.01 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Twenty years later, he was paroled. In 1997, Campbell was arrested in Franklin County on a charge of aggravated robbery. He was held at the Jackson Pike Jail pending arraignment.

On April 2, 1997, Deputy Sheriff Teresa Harrison was assigned to take Campbell to court, a task complicated by Campbell's confinement to a wheelchair. Two weeks before, jail doctors had wrongly diagnosed Campbell as having “hysterical paralysis”; in fact, he was faking. Not knowing this, however, Harrison placed Campbell in a van and drove him into downtown Columbus.

Around 12:30 p.m., Charles Dials was paying a ticket at the traffic bureau of the Franklin County Municipal Court.

At about the same time, Deputy Harrison was parking the van in a loading dock at the courthouse. Harrison got out of the van and began to assist Campbell. Suddenly, Campbell attacked her. He beat her severely, stole her service pistol, and fled.

Charles Dials had just left the traffic bureau and was driving west on Fulton Street when Campbell ran outside. Campbell dashed into the street, stopped Dials's truck, and pulled open the driver's door. He told Dials, “I don't want to hurt you; just move over.” And Campbell drove off, with Dials his prisoner.

Campbell drove to a K–Mart at Williams Road and South High Street. He parked there and talked with Dials, telling him not to be nervous. Then he drove back to Central Avenue, turned onto a side street, and parked near a factory. There, Campbell took Dials's money and made Dials exchange clothes with him.

Next Campbell drove back to High Street, where he bought a forty-ounce bottle of beer at a drive-through. He then returned to the K–Mart. There he sat talking with Dials “probably a good 2 hours,” according to his confession.

[674 F.3d 584]

When a helicopter circled overhead, Campbell became nervous and turned on the radio to hear the news. An announcer reporting on the escape mentioned that Campbell had commandeered a red truck. Dials said, “That's you, ain't it?” Campbell admitted it was, and they talked a while longer.

Campbell then moved the truck behind the K–Mart, driving around the back lot three times before he finally chose a parking space. He said, “Charlie, I got to get another car.” Then he told Dials to “get on the floor board of his truck.” Dials obeyed, and Campbell shot him twice: once in the face and once in the neck. The shots were fired from at least six inches away, but no more than two or three feet. Campbell tried to cover the corpse with Dials's coat.

Campbell then drove around to K–Mart's main lot and waited. While he sat waiting, Katie Workman drove in. She parked near the truck and began to get out of her car. As she opened her door, Campbell ran up to her car and put the gun to her head. “Move over * * *,” he said. “I've just killed one man.” Workman moved over, and Campbell screamed, “Give me your money, your keys.” Workman threw her wallet and keys at Campbell and jumped out of the car. Campbell immediately drove away and went to the nearby Great Southern Shopping Center.

Around 3:20 or 3:30 p.m., James Gilliam was parked outside the Body Fit gym at the Great Southern, waiting for someone. When Campbell arrived, Gilliam was sitting in his car with the door open. Campbell forced his way into the space between Gilliam's car and another car.

Suddenly, Gilliam felt the car door pressing against his legs. Then he felt a gun against his head and heard a man say: “[D]o you want to die? Get in the car and move over.” Gilliam looked up and saw a man he later identified as Campbell.

Gilliam pushed the door back at Campbell and stood up. Campbell said, “Get in the car and move over. I've done killed two people, and I'm not afraid to do it again.” Gilliam backed away, then turned and ran.

Gilliam's keys weren't in the ignition, so Campbell jumped back into Workman's car. He drove around for a while, at one point buying another forty-ounce beer at a drive-through. Campbell drove off in haste, then abandoned the car in an alley and fled on foot. Campbell hid in a tree, but the tree's owner saw and reported him. Police soon surrounded the tree.

Seeing now that he was cornered, Campbell dropped the gun and surrendered. At 9:00 p.m., detectives from the Columbus Police Department and the Franklin County Sheriff's Office interrogated him on videotape. He gave the detectives a lengthy and detailed confession.

State v. Campbell, 90 Ohio St.3d 320, 738 N.E.2d 1178, 1186–87 (2000).

II.

A jury convicted Campbell of four counts of aggravated murder. Id. at 1187. Count one was for aggravated murder by prior calculation and design; counts two through four were for aggravated murder during the commission of a felony ( i.e., aggravated robbery, kidnaping, and escape). Id. Each aggravated murder count carried four death specifications. Id. The jury also convicted Campbell of ten other counts related to the murders. Id. The jury recommended a death sentence. Id.

On direct appeal, the Ohio Supreme Court affirmed Campbell's convictions, but vacated his death sentence and remanded

[674 F.3d 585]

because the trial court had failed to comply with the allocution provisions of the Ohio Rules of Criminal Procedure. Id. at 1187–90, 1205. Complying with these provisions on remand, the trial court once again sentenced Campbell to death and the Ohio Supreme Court affirmed. State v. Campbell, 95 Ohio St.3d 48, 765 N.E.2d 334, 338, 344 (2002). During the pendency of his direct appeal, Campbell filed a petition for post-conviction relief in state court. The trial court denied relief, and the Ohio Court of Appeals affirmed. State v. Campbell, No. 03AP–147, 2003 WL 22783857, at *1 (Ohio Ct.App. Nov. 25, 2003). The Ohio Supreme Court declined Campbell's request for further review. State v. Campbell, 102 Ohio St.3d 1470, 809 N.E.2d 1158 (2004) (table).

Campbell then filed a petition for habeas relief in federal court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, alleging twelve grounds for relief. Campbell v. Bradshaw, No. 2:05–cv–193, 2007 WL 4991266, at *15–16 (S.D.Ohio Nov. 27, 2007). The magistrate judge recommended that Campbell's petition be denied. Id. at *64. The district court adopted the recommendations of the magistrate judge with respect to all of Campbell's claims, with the exception of his claim that the trial court improperly prevented him from presenting voluntary intoxication as a mitigating factor. Campbell v. Bradshaw, No. 2:05–cv–193, 2008 WL 657536, at *28–29, 33 (S.D.Ohio Mar. 7, 2008). The magistrate judge subsequently recommended that this claim be denied because any error was harmless, and the district court dismissed Campbell's petition in its entirety. Campbell v. Bradshaw, No. 2:05–cv–193, 2009 WL 773866, at *6–7, 13 (S.D.Ohio Mar. 18, 2009).

On appeal to this court, Campbell raises four grounds for relief: (1) that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by introducing his incarceration records during the penalty phase; (2) that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance during the penalty phase by failing to present mitigating evidence regarding his juvenile incarceration; (3) that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by not moving for a change in venue; and (4) that the trial court improperly prohibited him from arguing voluntary intoxication as a mitigating factor.

III.

Because Campbell filed his petition for a writ of habeas corpus after the effective date of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (“AEDPA”), we review de novo the district court's conclusions on issues of law and on mixed questions of law and fact and review its factual findings for clear error. Montgomery v. Bobby, 654 F.3d 668, 676 (6th Cir.2011) ( en banc ). Under AEDPA, “a federal court shall not grant a habeas petition with respect to any claim that was adjudicated on the merits in the state court unless the adjudication resulted in a decision that: (1) was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law as determined by the Supreme Court; or (2) was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented to the state courts.” Id.; see 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d).

Under the “contrary to” clause, § 2254(d)(1), “a federal habeas court may grant the writ if the state court arrives at a conclusion opposite to that reached by [the Supreme Court] on a question of law or if the state court decides a case differently than [the Supreme Court] has on a set of materially indistinguishable facts.” Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 412–13, 120 S.Ct. 1495, 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000). The Supreme Court has recently clarified that “review under...

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