Williams v. State

• Decision Date: 23 February 2000
• Docket Number: No. 45S00-9701-PD-45.,45S00-9701-PD-45.
• Citation: 724 N.E.2d 1070
• Parties: Edward E. WILLIAMS, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below).
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

724 N.E.2d 1070

Edward E. WILLIAMS, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below).

No. 45S00-9701-PD-45.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

February 23, 2000.

Susan K. Carpenter, Public Defender of Indiana, Danielle L. Gregory, Deputy Public Defender, Ann M. Skinner, Special Assistant, Robert E. Lancaster, Special Assistant, Indianapolis, Indiana, Attorneys for Appellant.

Jeffrey A. Modisett, Attorney General of Indiana, Rosemary L. Borek, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, Indiana, Attorneys for Appellee. SHEPARD, Chief Justice.

Edward Williams filed a petition for post-conviction relief challenging his conviction and death sentence for the murder of three people. The post-conviction court denied the petition and Williams appeals. He presents six issues for our review:

1. Whether the post-conviction court erred in finding he had waived the issue of trial counsel ineffectiveness;

2. Whether Williams was denied effective assistance of trial counsel;

3. Whether Williams was denied effective assistance of counsel on appeal;

4. Whether Williams' death sentence was based on unreliable information;

5. Whether prosecutorial misconduct occurred during the guilt and penalty phases of Williams' trial; and

6. Whether the appointment and assistance of a magistrate during the proceedings was error.

Facts and Procedural History

The facts as they appear in our opinion from Williams' direct appeal are as follows:

In the early morning hours of June 19, 1992, defendant, armed with a handgun, Jemelle Joshua, armed with a shotgun, and three others set out to steal audio and video equipment from the basement of school teacher Michael Richardson. Defendant and Joshua were admitted to Richardson's home and their three accomplices followed them in. Besides Richardson, they encountered a number of children and adults, including Richardson's sister, Debra Rice, and Robert Hollins. While defendant held his gun to Richardson's head and Joshua held Rice, their accomplices headed for the basement. Hollins intercepted them and began to wrestle with one of them in the kitchen. Defendant responded by shooting Hollins in the back.

The electronic equipment proved too difficult to remove and the defendant ordered the occupants of the house to lie down. Rice attempted to escape and Joshua shot her in the chest. As the invaders left the home, defendant shot each of Hollins, Rice and Richardson once in the head despite Richardson's plea, "Please don't kill me." A few hours later, defendant would tell his sister that he shot the victims so there wouldn't be any witnesses.

Williams v. State, 669 N.E.2d 1372, 1375-76 (Ind.1996), cert. denied, 520 U.S. 1232, 117 S.Ct. 1828, 137 L.Ed.2d 1034 (1997).

On July 18, 1992, the State charged Williams with three counts of murder in the perpetration of a robbery and three counts of murder. The State later sought the death penalty on two of the counts. Following trial, the jury found Williams guilty on all counts, but could not agree on a sentencing recommendation. The trial court held a sentencing hearing and imposed a death sentence.

Williams appealed his convictions and sentence, and we affirmed. See Williams, 669 N.E.2d at 1390

. He later filed a petition for post-conviction relief, which the post-conviction court denied.

Standard of Review

Post-conviction procedures do not afford the defendant with a "super-appeal." Rather, they create a narrow remedy for subsequent collateral challenges to convictions, which must be based on grounds enumerated in the post-conviction rules. Ind. Post-Conviction Rule 1(1); Weatherford v. State, 619 N.E.2d 915 (Ind. 1993). The petitioner bears the burden of establishing his grounds for relief by a preponderance of the evidence. P-C.R. 1(5); Weatherford, 619 N.E.2d at 917. If an issue was known and available but not raised on direct appeal, it is waived. If it was raised on direct appeal but decided adversely, it is res judicata. Williams v. State, 706 N.E.2d 149, 153-54 (Ind.1999)

. When the defendant appeals the negative judgment of a post-conviction court, he must show that the evidence as a whole "leads unerringly and unmistakably to a conclusion opposite to that reached by the trial court." Id. at 154 (quoting Weatherford, 619 N.E.2d at 917).

I. Waiver of Ineffective Assistance of Trial Counsel

Williams claims that the post-conviction court erred in concluding that he waived the issue of ineffective assistance of trial counsel by failing to raise it on direct appeal. We agree. In Woods v. State, 701 N.E.2d 1208 (Ind.1998), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 120 S.Ct. 150, 145 L.Ed.2d 128 (1999), we held that the claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel is not waived if not raised on direct appeal, but may be presented in post-conviction proceedings. Id. at 1220. Because Williams did not raise the issue of ineffective assistance of trial counsel on direct appeal, we address it. See id. at 1222.

II. Ineffective Assistance of Trial Counsel

Williams asserts ineffective assistance of trial counsel on several grounds. To prevail on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, Williams must show that his counsel's performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness as determined by prevailing professional norms, and that the lack of reasonable representation prejudiced him. Rondon v. State, 711 N.E.2d 506, 517 (Ind.1999) (citing Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984)).

A. Guilt Phase. Williams first claims that his trial counsel was ineffective in failing to depose the State's witnesses prior to trial. We initially note that counsel's failure to interview or depose State's witnesses does not, in itself, constitute ineffective assistance of counsel. Id. at 519. Williams must identify what additional information would have been discovered and how he was prejudiced by the absence of this information. See id.

Williams claims that testimony from Jemelle Joshua and Jimichael Parker, if further developed, would have revealed that he was intoxicated during the crime and had used drugs beforehand. The defense of voluntary intoxication requires a showing that "the intoxication was so severe as to prevent [the defendant] from forming the state of mind necessary to commit [the crime]." Id. (quoting Gambill v. State, 675 N.E.2d 668, 673 (Ind. 1996)).

According to Jemelle Joshua, during the morning and afternoon of June 18, 1992, he, Williams, and two other people smoked "sherm sticks," or marijuana cigarettes dipped in embalming fluid. (P-C.R. at 2930-32.) The group smoked two "sherm sticks." (P-C.R. at 2939.) Joshua also testified that he and Williams consumed alcohol between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. that evening. (P-C.R. at 2938.) Jimichael Parker also testified that he witnessed Williams smoking "sherm sticks" and drinking alcohol on the afternoon of June 18th. (P-C.R. at 2247.)

Assuming that effective lawyering would have included deposing these two witnesses, it is apparent that they would not have provided evidence demonstrating that Williams was intoxicated at the time the crime occurred or that his alleged intoxication was so severe as to prevent him from forming the requisite intent to rob and murder.

The murders took place in the very early morning of June 19, sometime after 1 a.m. (T.R. at 678, 914.) This was at least six or seven hours after Williams was last seen consuming alcohol or drugs. Moreover, co-conspirator Mark Harris testified that about midnight on the night of the murders, he ran into Williams, Joshua, and Taylor. Williams told Harris that "he had a hit" and that Michael Richardson "had a big screen television" and "numerous V.C.R.s" in his home. (T.R. at 1158.) Williams then asked Harris if he had a gun. Soon thereafter, Williams made a phone call and the group went to Richardson's home, where the robbery and murders took place. On the way to Richardson's home, Williams gave directions to Lanita Charleston, who drove the group.

Williams' sister Jeanette testified that Williams confessed to her immediately following the murders and discussed the details of the murders with her. (T.R. at 835-42.) Based on the foregoing, even if Williams did consume alcohol and drugs on June 18th, the evidence would not have supported a finding that he was so severely intoxicated as to prevent him from forming the requisite intent.

Williams also claims that, had his attorneys spent more time interviewing him, they would have discovered that he had serious "verbal deficits" which would have affected trial strategy; namely, it would have allowed his attorneys to argue that Williams lacked the capacity to be the "ring leader" of the perpetrators. Whatever his lawyers might have been able to argue about Williams' leadership would certainly have been overcome by the fact that he shot all three victims himself. (T.R. at 833-37, 842, 1176-90.) In light of this, whether Williams was the "ring leader" was of little moment.

Lastly, Williams argues that his counsel could have impeached State's witnesses Earl Wilson and Jeanette Williams had they had the opportunity to interview them before trial.¹ The record reflects, however, that these witnesses were vigorously cross-examined and impeached on the stand. On cross-examination, Jeanette Williams was questioned about her drug use and about her hospitalization for depression. (T.R. at 852-54.) Likewise, Earl Wilson was asked about his prior criminal history and incidents with the law enforcement officials who questioned him in connection with this case. (T.R. at 1062-63, 1066-67.) Thus, Williams' counsel questioned these witnesses regarding the same facts under which Williams now claims they should have been impeached. In light of the foregoing, Williams has not demonstrated how he was prejudiced by his counsels' failure to interview State's witnesses before trial.²

B. Penalty Phase. Williams next maintains that restrictions placed on...