Brooks v. Tenn.
| Decision Date | 23 November 2010 |
| Docket Number | No. 07-5415,07-5415 |
| Citation | 626 F.3d 878 |
| Parties | Donald Gene BROOKS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. State of TENNESSEE, Respondent-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
ARGUED: Michael C. Holley, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellant. James E. Gaylord, Office of the Attorney General, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Michael C. Holley, Caryll S. Alpert, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellant. James E. Gaylord, Office of the Attorney General, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellee.
Before: DAUGHTREY, GILMAN, and KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judges.
GILMAN, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which KETHLEDGE, J., joined. DAUGHTREY, J. (pp. 898-900), delivered a separate opinion concurring in the judgment.
Following a jury trial in the Montgomery County Criminal Court in Tennessee,Donald Gene Brooks was convicted of first-degree felony murder, especially aggravated robbery, theft of property valued over $1,000, and setting fire to personal property. He was sentenced to life plus 27 years of imprisonment. After Brooks's conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal, he petitioned for state postconviction relief, but was turned down at all levels of the state judiciary. He subsequently filed a petition for federal habeas corpus relief, raising a total of 11 claims. The district court denied his petition, but certified five claims for appeal. This court later certified two additional claims.
The certified claims all relate to purported prosecutorial misconduct involving the failure to disclose material evidence, the alleged use of a jailhouse informant to elicit incriminating statements from Brooks, and the presentation of allegedly false testimony at trial. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.
The following factual recitation (in Parts I.A. and I.B.) is derived from the opinion of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, which affirmed Brooks's conviction and sentence on direct appeal. See State v. Brooks, No. 01-C101-9703-CC-00099, 1998 WL 299267, at *1-*6 (Tenn.Crim.App. June 9, 1998).
Joseph J. Wisniewski was discovered bleeding from his neck on the side of Barge Point Road in Clarksville, Tennessee shortly after 4:00 P.M. on October 28, 1994. His throat had been cut. Emergency personnel were unable to save Wisniewski, and he died at the scene.
Earlier that day, Wisniewski had left his home to go to the Pickle Factory bar in Clarksville. He had approximately $200 in cash on his person. Brooks was also at the bar, and Wisniewski drank with him and several other patrons, including Edwin Lunceford and Randy Herdman.
That afternoon, Wisniewski offered Herdman a ride home from the bar. Lunceford, believing that Wisniewski was too drunk to drive, convinced Wisniewski to let Lunceford drive Wisniewski's car. Brooks, Herdman, Lunceford, and Wisniewski then left the bar and drove to a convenience store. Brooks went inside and purchased a twelve-pack of Bud Light. The men then dropped Herdman off at his home.
Soon thereafter, Brooks, Lunceford, and Wisniewski pulled over on Barge Point Road to relieve themselves. They all got out of the car and, when Lunceford had finished relieving himself, he turned around to see Brooks holding a knife to Wisniewski's throat. Wisniewski's wallet was on the trunk of the car. Brooks ordered Lunceford to take the wallet. After Lunceford did so, he walked over to Wisniewski and punched him in the jaw, purportedly to prevent Wisniewski from being able to identify him. Brooks then cut Wisniewski's throat with the knife.
Immediately afterwards, Brooks and Lunceford got back into Wisniewski's car. Brooks drove, leaving Wisniewski on the side of Barge Point Road. From there, Brooks and Lunceford drove around the area, drinking and smoking crack cocaine. Brooks threw his knife, Wisniewski's wallet, and some of the wallet's contents in a creek bank. At one point, Lunceford asked Brooks why he had killed Wisniewski, and Brooks replied that Wisniewski could not identify them now.
Brooks and Lunceford eventually drove to the home of Connie Gonzalez, Brooks's girlfriend, and parked Wisniewski's car under the breezeway of a nearby church.They carried some items that they had discovered in the trunk of the car into Gonzalez's home. The two men then went back to the car, doused it with charcoal lighter fluid, and set it on fire. About ten minutes later, they returned to Gonzalez's house and drank alcohol and smoked crack throughout the night in an upstairs room. Brooks hid Wisniewski's car keys inside a stuffed animal that he found there.
Shortly after the homicide, Brooks came to Lunceford's home on three or four occasions to "work up a story" about the crimes. Lunceford did not promptly contact law enforcement because Brooks threatened to harm Lunceford and his family if Lunceford said anything. Finally, in April 1995, Lunceford called Officer Marty Watson at the Clarksville Police Department concerning the crimes. Officer Watson in turn contacted Detective Alan Charvis, the lead investigator on Wisniewski's homicide. Detective Charvis had no probable suspect until Lunceford came forward.
Lunceford informed the officers that he had information about the Wisniewski homicide, but demanded immunity from prosecution and the presence of a representative from the district attorney's office as prerequisites to making a statement. After being granted conditional immunity (which provided that he would not be prosecuted so long as he was not the one who had killed Wisniewski), Lunceford told the officers about the events of October 28, 1994. He also led law enforcement to a creek where he believed that Brooks had disposed of the knife and Wisniewski's wallet. Later, Lunceford told Detective Charvis that the location where these items were discarded was in fact another creek. Nothing was found at either location.
The police then arranged for Lunceford to initiate conversations with Brooks while wearing a "wire" that would transmit and tape record the conversations. According to Lunceford, Brooks admitted during the first such conversation that he had killed Wisniewski, but the wire malfunctioned and the recording was inaudible. In subsequent conversations, Brooks made statements such as "loose lips sink ships." He would also claim ignorance, saying "I don't know nothing," and then laugh. At one point, Lunceford said that he was just as guilty as Brooks and that Brooks was in denial. Brooks then repeated, "I am in denial," and laughed. At another point, Lunceford professed concern because his probation officer had been by his house to talk to Lunceford about the Wisniewski homicide. Brooks responded by reassuring Lunceford that there was nothing to worry about and that Lunceford should just follow the plan that they had talked about the previous day.
Eventually, Brooks became suspicious of Lunceford. While they were in the restroom at the Pickle Factory bar, Brooks asked Lunceford if he was wearing a wire and told Lunceford to lift up his shirt. Brooks then searched Lunceford, but failed to discover the wire. Soon thereafter, the police moved in and arrested Brooks for the murder of Wisniewski.
At trial, Lunceford was the main witness against Brooks. Lunceford was then serving time for felony convictions of robbery and forgery, and he admitted to numerous past offenses of driving under the influence, driving on a revoked license, and "simple assaults or domestic disputes." Most of the factual narrative set forth above is based on Lunceford's testimony.
The prosecution also introduced physical evidence, which included two Bud Light cans discovered near Wisniewski's body on Barge Point Road. Special Agent HoytPhillips of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) testified that he had processed the beer cans for latent fingerprints. He explained that he had found Brooks's left thumb print on one of the cans and Brooks's left palm print on the other can.
In addition, TBI Special Agent Anthony Clark, formerly of the Clarksville Police Department, testified that he was one of the officers who searched Connie Gonzalez's home as part of the police investigation. They discovered a stuffed animal that had been torn or cut. A key ring with car keys belonging to Wisniewski was found inside of the stuffed animal.
Finally, Michael Wayne Nelson, a convicted felon then serving time in prison, testified that he and Brooks shared a cell in the Montgomery County Jail on June 7, 1996. Nelson stated that Brooks confessed his guilt to Nelson. Brooks provided Nelson with details of the crime that were consistent with Lunceford's testimony of what had happened. He also told Nelson that the only evidence against Brooks was his companion at the time of the crime, and that he wished that he had killed his companion as well.
Nelson admitted during his direct examination that he had prior convictions for larceny from a person, grand larceny, and escape. He also acknowledged that he was facing breach-of-trust charges at the time of his testimony for failing to return to the Nashville Community Service Center after having been placed on parole.
When the prosecution rested, Brooks proceeded with several witnesses of his own. These included Melissa Ann Springfield Conner, who was one of Lunceford's friends. She testified that Lunceford had told her that he was involved in a murder trial. He said that the police had wired him and given him money and drugs to go into a bar, where he was to "party" with a man and get the man sufficiently "messed up" to confess. This testimony contradicted Lunceford's testimony that he had not received any money from the police. Conner also said that she doubted the veracity of Lunceford's story that he had no involvement with the...
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