Burden v. Zant, 88-8619
| Decision Date | 10 April 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-8619,88-8619 |
| Citation | 871 F.2d 956 |
| Parties | Jimmie BURDEN, Jr., Petitioner-Appellant, v. Walter ZANT, Warden, Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center, Respondent-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Millard Farmer, Joseph M. Nursey, Atlanta, Ga., for plaintiff-appellant.
Paula K. Smith, Office of the Attorney General, Mary Beth Westmoreland, Atlanta, Ga., for respondent-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court For the Middle District of Georgia.
Before TJOFLAT, FAY and VANCE, Circuit Judges.
In December 1981 a grand jury indicted Jimmie Burden on four counts of murder for the 1974 deaths of Louise Wynn and her three children. Burden's nephew, Henry Lee "Acid" Dixon, implicated Burden in the murders after Dixon was arrested for the crimes following a seven year investigation. A jury found Burden guilty of all four murders and he was sentenced to death on each count. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the four convictions and three of the death sentences; the fourth was vacated and remanded for resentencing to life imprisonment. Burden v. State, 297 S.E.2d 242 (1982). The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari. Burden v. Georgia, 460 U.S. 1103, 103 S.Ct. 1803, 76 L.Ed.2d 367 (1983). After exhausting his state remedies, Burden filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. The district court denied the petition, 690 F.Supp. 1040, and this appeal follows.
One of the most serious issues Burden raises in his appeal is whether his trial counsel labored under a conflict of interest. A criminal defendant is entitled under the sixth amendment to representation that is free from conflicts of interest. Wood v. Georgia, 450 U.S. 261, 271, 101 S.Ct. 1097, 1103, 67 L.Ed.2d 220 (1981). Because the record is inadequate to support resolution of this issue, we remand for an evidentiary hearing on petitioner's conflict of interest claim and express no opinion as to the other issues raised in his appeal.
The record reflects that the Public Defender's Office of Georgia's Middle Judicial Circuit was appointed to represent Dixon after his arrest in August 1981. Dixon, testifying at his commitment hearing under a grant of immunity, inculpated petitioner in the crimes for which Dixon was charged. The trial court did not find probable cause to bind Dixon over to the grand jury but ordered him to remain in custody as a material witness. After petitioner's arrest, the trial court appointed the same Public Defender's Office to represent petitioner. The Public Defender's Office at that time consisted solely of Kenneth Kondritzer, the Public Defender, and Mickey Moses, the Assistant Public Defender. In February 1982, before petitioner's trial, Kondritzer resigned and Moses became Public Defender. In an affidavit,...
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Story v. Kindt
...death sentence was appropriate). Therefore, the court had ordered an evidentiary hearing to resolve this issue, Burden v. Zant, 871 F.2d 956, 957 (11th Cir.1989), and later affirmed the district court's denial of the habeas petition, Burden v. Zant, 903 F.2d 1352 (11th Respondents note that......
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Burden v. Zant, 88-8619
...to evaluate Burden's conflict-of-interest claim, we remanded the case for an evidentiary hearing on that issue alone. See Burden v. Zant, 871 F.2d 956 (11th Cir.1989). The district court held the evidentiary hearing, made factual findings, and again concluded that Burden had received repres......
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Burden v. Zant
... Page 1298 ... 24 F.3d 1298 ... Jimmie BURDEN, Jr., Petitioner-Appellant, ... Walter ZANT, Warden, Georgia Diagnostic and Classification ... Center, Respondent-Appellee ... No. 88-8619 ... United States Court of Appeals, ... Eleventh Circuit ... June 15, 1994 ... Page 1299 ... Millard Farmer, Joseph M. Nursey, Atlanta, GA, John H. Blume, S.C. Death Penalty Resource Center, Columbia, SC, for appellant ... Paula K. Smith, Mary Beth ... ...
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Burden v. Zant, 88-8619
...conflict-of-interest claim because the record was not sufficient to permit a proper analysis of this claim. Burden v. Zant, 871 F.2d 956, 957 (11th Cir.1989) (Burden I ). After the district court completed an evidentiary hearing and entered findings of fact and conclusions of law, we affirm......