Com. v. Williams

• Decision Date: 19 October 2001
• Citation: 782 A.2d 517,566 Pa. 553
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee v. Craig WILLIAMS, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

782 A.2d 517

566 Pa. 553

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee v. Craig WILLIAMS, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted November 23, 1999.

Decided October 19, 2001.

Robert Brett Dunham, Billy H. Nolas, Philadelphia, for appellant, Craig Williams.

Catherine Marshall, Michael A. Morse, Philadelphia, for appellee, Com.

Robert A. Graci, Harrisburg, for appellee, Office of Atty. Gen.

Before FLAHERTY, C.J., and ZAPPALA, CAPPY, CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN and SAYLOR, JJ.

OPINION

SAYLOR, Justice.

This is an appeal from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County dismissing a petition for post-conviction relief in this capital case. We vacate the post-conviction court's order and remand for further proceedings.

On April 3, 1987, Appellant Craig Williams ("Williams") shot and killed Gordon Russell, a pedestrian who was returning from a grocery store. In Williams' ensuing prosecution for first-degree murder and related offenses, the Commonwealth's theory of the case was that the bullet was a stray one that had been aimed at Erica Riggins, a woman who previously had fought with Jean Hargrove, Williams' pregnant girlfriend. In the guilt phase defense, trial counsel presented testimony from several witnesses who claimed that the fatal shot was fired by Ms. Riggins; however, the testimony of such witnesses was conflicting, manifested internal inconsistencies, and found little support in the physical evidence. At the penalty phase of trial, the parties stipulated to Williams' three prior felony convictions. Based on such stipulation and the trial record, the Commonwealth proceeded upon the aggravating circumstances of a significant history of felony convictions involving use or threat of violence, 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(d)(9), and creation of grave risk to others, 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(d)(7). Williams offered testimony from three witnesses in mitigation: his mother, Jean Hargrove, and Christine Williams, a nurse who had cared for Williams as he recovered from a surgery. The jury found the grave risk aggravator and no mitigating circumstances and sentenced Williams to death, following which the trial court denied post-trial motions. Substitute counsel was appointed for purposes of perfecting an appeal.

On April 23, 1991, trial counsel committed suicide. Appellant alleges that this occurred on the day before he was to be indicted on charges of money laundering for a large narcotics ring.

On October 9, 1992, this Court affirmed Williams' conviction and sentence. See Commonwealth v. Williams, 532 Pa. 265, 615 A.2d 716 (1992)

.

On May 20, 1996, Williams filed a pro se petition under the Post-Conviction Relief Act, 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-9546 (the "PCRA"), in the court of common pleas.¹ Counsel was appointed in due course and filed an amended PCRA petition. The petition contained a lengthy recitation of facts designed to portray trial counsel as ineffective in failing to prepare adequately for both the guilt and penalty phases of trial. The petition asserted that trial counsel waived valid objections; called witnesses without previously having interviewed them; put forward a jumbled and inconsistent defense; failed to make arguments predicated upon the evidence in support of a lesser degree of guilt; began assembling a penalty phase presentation on the eve of the guilt verdict; and put forward a truncated and inadequate presentation of mitigating circumstances to the sentencing jury. Williams offered to establish that trial counsel pressured Jean Hargrove and Erica Riggins to pay legal fees for Williams' defense, withheld legal services for reasons related to compensation, and labored under a conflict of interest by virtue of his acceptance of legal fees from actual and prospective witnesses. Further, Williams contended that trial counsel failed to develop substantial, available mitigating evidence in the form of circumstances surrounding the offense, including distress and confusion on the part of Williams concerning the altercation between Jean Hargrove and Erica Riggins; undeveloped family history; and attention deficit disorder, impulsiveness, and brain damage constituting an extreme mental or emotional disturbance. Additionally, in the amended petition, Williams asserted that the Commonwealth violated Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 352 by failing to notify Williams in writing of the existence of aggravating circumstances; the trial court improperly instructed the jurors that they must unanimously find mitigating circumstances contrary to Mills v. Maryland, 486 U.S. 367, 108 S.Ct. 1860, 100 L.Ed.2d 384 (1988); trial counsel was ineffective for failing to seek a proper jury instruction in this regard; trial counsel was ineffective at voir dire in failing to ask venirepersons whether they viewed a first degree murder verdict as automatically requiring a sentence of death; and trial counsel was ineffective for failing to preserve issues related to the racial composition of the jury, see Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986)

. Williams alleged ineffectiveness on the part of appellate counsel with respect to the Mills and Batson issues, but did not make any other specific assertions in this regard in relation to any other issue, or any general allegation of ineffectiveness on the part of appellate counsel. Finally, Williams sought leave of court to file supplemental pleadings, affidavits, and memoranda in support of his eligibility for postconviction relief.

In response to the amended petition, the Commonwealth filed a motion to dismiss, asserting, inter alia, prejudicial delay in the assertion of the alleged conflict of interest on the part of trial counsel, particularly in view of trial counsel's death; a failure on Williams' part to proffer evidence by way of affidavit or otherwise which would establish such conflict; previous litigation of claims of trial counsel's ineffectiveness in the penalty phase of trial; the absence of an affidavit of an expert witness to support the claim of ineffectiveness in failing to present mental health evidence in mitigation; the validity of the jury instructions challenged under Mills; the absence of any requirement of notice of aggravating circumstances at the time of Williams' trial; the absence of any requirement for life qualification of venirepersons; and the trial court's acceptance of reasons offered by the district attorney for peremptory challenges exercised. The Commonwealth did not specifically challenge Williams' claims on the basis of waiver due to the absence of an assertion of ineffectiveness on the part of appellate counsel.

On November 13, 1997, the PCRA court conducted oral argument concerning the Commonwealth's motion to dismiss. In addition to appointed PCRA counsel, an attorney for the former Center for Legal Education, Advocacy and Defense Assistance ("CLEADA") appeared and asserted that he had been authorized to act as cocounsel for Williams; however, the PCRA court declined to recognize such representation. After argument, the PCRA court announced its intention to dismiss the petition and subsequently issued formal notice of such intention pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 1509(C)(1), identifying as the reason for dismissal that "[t]he issues raised in the PCRA Petition filed by your attorney are without merit."

Williams then filed a series of affidavits and documents under cover signed by PCRA counsel and counsel from CLEADA. The eight affiants included Williams' father, mother, brother, and sister; a childhood friend; Jean Hargrove; Erica Riggins; and Dr. Henry Dee, a licensed psychologist and neuropsychologist. The general tenor of the documents was in support of central averments of the amended petition. Several of the affidavits bolstered Williams' post-conviction description of the course of events surrounding the killing of Mr. Russell, emphasizing, in particular, that Williams was distraught and confused by the altercations between Hargrove and Riggins and set out at most to frighten Riggins by initiating the gunfire that resulted in Mr. Russell's death. Most of the affiants provided statements indicating that Williams was of good character but suffered from a traumatic childhood, aggravated by an alcoholic, abusive father. Various affiants described episodes involving head injuries to Williams and stated that Williams manifested persistent difficulties with distraction and control over his emotions. The affidavit and report of Dr. Dee indicated that Williams suffers from organic cerebral impairment and undermined intellectual and social functioning "of a long-standing nature," which was related to Williams' offense in terms of his capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct and mitigating factors involving major mental health illness. The affidavits of Jean Hargrove and Erica Riggins contain assertions that the affiants made substantial payments to trial counsel; that trial counsel failed to speak with witnesses about the case; and, in general, that trial counsel pursued a course of withholding legal services as a means to obtain compensation. In Ms. Riggins' affidavit, she also asserted that she appeared at the time of trial hoping to testify in support of the defense, but, at the direction of the assistant district attorney prosecuting the case, was restrained from entering the courtroom or approaching trial counsel. Most of the affiants indicated that they had not been contacted, interviewed at any length, and/or prepared for trial testimony by trial counsel. The affiants generally expressed their willingness to testify fully to the contents of their affidavits at trial, had they been asked.

The PCRA court subsequently issued an order denying the amended petition, indicating that its disposition was accomplished after a review of the supplemental filings, although noting that the supplemental filing was by an attorney who was prohibited from entering his...