Aki-Khuam v. Davis, 3:00 cv 386 AS.

• Citation: 203 F.Supp.2d 1001
• Decision Date: 25 March 2002
• Docket Number: No. 3:00 cv 386 AS.,3:00 cv 386 AS.
• Parties: Akeem AKI-KHUAM, f/k/a Edward E. Williams, Petitioner, v. Cecil DAVIS, Superintendent, Indiana State Prison, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Indiana

203 F.Supp.2d 1001

Akeem AKI-KHUAM, f/k/a Edward E. Williams, Petitioner, v. Cecil DAVIS, Superintendent, Indiana State Prison, Respondent.

No. 3:00 cv 386 AS.

United States District Court, N.D. Indiana, South Bend Division.

March 25, 2002.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Brent Westerfield, Indianapolis, IN, Eric Koselke, Indianapolis, IN, for plaintiff.

Stephen R. Creason, Indianapolis, IN, for defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ALLEN SHARP, Judge.

Petitioner, Akeem Aki-Khuam, f/k/a Edward Williams,¹ was convicted of murder in a state court trial conducted in Lake County, Indiana, and was sentenced to death by the judge conducting that trial upon the recommendation of the jury that heard the case. The within petition was filed by counsel in this Court on December 14, 2000 and oral argument was heard in Lafayette, Indiana on August 20, 2001. Additionally, supplemental briefs were filed on October 29 and November 13, 2001. This Court greatly appreciates the high degree of professional competence displayed by appointed counsel for this petitioner.

The extensive state record has been filed and examined by this Court under the mandates of Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 83 S.Ct. 745, 9 L.Ed.2d 770 (1963) and under the mandates of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b). Immediate reference is made to the two decisions in this case by the Supreme Court of Indiana, namely Williams v. State, 669 N.E.2d 1372 (Ind. 1996), cert. denied, 520 U.S. 1232, 117 S.Ct. 1828, 137 L.Ed.2d 1034, (1997) and Williams v. State, 724 N.E.2d 1070 (Ind. 2000), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1128, 121 S.Ct. 886, 148 L.Ed.2d 793 (2001). This petitioner is now confined on death row at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana in this district.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

The Indiana Supreme Court, in its opinion on direct appeal, described the crime committed by Williams 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). An information and affidavit of probable cause was filed on July 18, 1992, charging Williams and his co-defendants Jemelle Joshua, Che Grafton, Mark Harris, and Jesse Taylor, with three counts of felony murder. T.R. 5.² At the initial hearing on July 21, 1992, David Schneider was appointed as Williams' counsel, and on August 25, 1992, Schneider filed a notice of alibi on Williams' behalf. T.R. 12, 17. On September 15, 1992, Judge James Letsinger scheduled the trial for February 1, 1993. T.R. 21. On September 25, 1992, the prosecutor filed two additional counts against Williams, seeking the death penalty. T.R. 22. On October 1, 1992, Williams was advised of the additional counts, and Darnail Lyles was appointed as second chair. T.R. 37. On October 8, 1992, Judge Letsinger granted Williams' motion for the appointment of a mitigation specialist, but limited that expert to ten (10) hours, and on October 13, 1992, Judge Letsinger accelerated the trial date to January 25, 1992. T.R. 42,43.

At the final pre-trial hearing on January 12, 1993, Judge Letsinger granted Williams' motion to direct the jury commissioner to list the persons excused from jury duty, and granted his motion for sequestration of the jury. T.R. 49. The judge denied Williams' motion for continuance, his motion challenging death qualification voir dire questions, and his motion to increase the number of peremptory challenges. Id. During the discussion about the number of peremptory challenges, Judge Letsinger informed the parties as follows:

Judge Letsinger:

From the first peremptory strike, each side is going to have to have some reason for striking that person. I mean there's almost no, no person on a jury that isn't protected now. I mean they've extended it to everything.

Darnail Lyles: So what I'm hearing from the court is the peremptory challenges have now all been converted to challenges for cause?

Judge Letsinger:

Almost. Almost. In the words of Splunge, you've got to have some plausible reason supported by the record, supported by the record, plausible reason that is nonracial, non-gender, nonreligious, non-body language. They won't even let — they won't even allow body language. Splunge struck a black juror because she said — she didn't understand the burden of proof in a criminal case, when actually her answers were the same as everybody else's answers. It had to be supported by the record.

P.C.R. 101-102. No further discussion was had on the issue of peremptory challenges.

A week later, on January 20, 1993, Judge Letsinger granted Williams' motion for an additional fifteen hours of funds for the mitigation expert. T.R. 114. That same day, Williams' counsel amended his notice of alibi, and withdrew his initial alibi. T.R. 128, 129. The following day, Judge Letsinger granted Williams' motion for appointment of Dr. Douglas Caruana as an expert witness and ordered him to conduct a psychological evaluation of Williams. T.R. 148. On January 25, 1993, the morning of trial, Judge Letsinger again denied Williams' motion for continuance and jury selection commenced. T.R. 152.

The court allowed both sides to questions the jurors individually in front of the entire venire and then took its noon recess. T.R. 400. After the noon recess and before the venire re-entered the courtroom, Judge Letsinger asked each side to hand up its list of challenges. Id. He granted the prosecution's first peremptory challenge because that juror's son had been convicted of a felony, which the court found to be an appropriate race-neutral reason. T.R. 401. The judge then denied Williams' peremptory challenge of juror Sosnawski, a white male, because he found counsel's stated reason for the strike, that counsel "didn't get the impression that [the juror] really understood what was going on," to be a "euphemism and . . . not race neutral." T.R. 402. The judge denied Williams' peremptory challenge of juror Wilson, a white male, because counsel's statement that his "general impression is, number one, that [the juror] was not being honest; two, that his responses, I have to always related back to my perception and whatever those responses were, left me with the impression that this gentleman was maybe not being entirely honest with you," did not, per the judge's instruction, "point to a question and an answer in the record that gives you a good reason for striking that person from the jury, that is race neutral, even though he's a white guy." T.R. 403-04. Williams challenged juror Bobalik, a white female, on the grounds that she failed to understand the presumption of innocence. T.R. 408. The court found that Williams' counsel had used a trick question³ and that they did "not have a record showing that Bobalik cannot give the defendant the presumption of innocence" and denied the challenge. T.R. 409-11.

Lyles challenged two other panel members, Mrs. Botos and Mr. Buncich. The challenge against Botos was denied, but the challenge against Buncich was allowed. T.R. 412. The panel then returned and questioning began for the four empty seats. Of this group, Williams' counsel challenged juror Brandys, a white female, because she "clearly doesn't have the understanding that the defendant has the absolute right not to testify." T.R. 479. Additionally, Lyles stated that "she also further indicated that unless the defendant testifies, she's really not looking on it as being honest, and she's indicated that she thinks the defense attorneys are slicksters.⁴" T.R. 483. The judge found that Lyles had not tried to rehabilitate her on the right to testify issue and that defense counsel had introduced the word "slickster" and denied the challenge. T.R. 480, 484. The court allowed defense counsel's strike of a Mr. Coffman. T.R. 484. The jury was seated that afternoon and sent home to pack for their sequestration. Trial began the following morning, January 26, 1993.

The prosecution presented evidence from the pathologist, testifying regarding the wounds on the victims, from the stepfather and brother of Robert Hollins, one of the victims, regarding his whereabouts on the night of the murders and regarding Williams' first visit to the Richardson home on that evening. It presented testimony from the neighbors regarding finding Michael Richardson's car keys in their yard, and testimony from Shedrick Davis, a friend of Michael Richardson's, again regarding the events of the early evening, when Williams first visited the Richardson home. After the first responding police officers testified regarding various physical evidence, the prosecution presented the testimony of Jeanette Williams, Williams' sister. T.R. 830. She testified that on the morning of June 19, 1992, Edward Williams had arrived at her home in the early morning and told her that he had gone to commit a robbery and a woman had been...