Decastro v. Branker

• Decision Date: 03 June 2011
• Docket Number: No. 10–5.,10–5.
• Citation: 642 F.3d 442
• Parties: Eugene Tyrone DeCASTRO, Petitioner–Appellant,v.Gerald BRANKER, Warden, Central Prison, Raleigh, North Carolina, Respondent–Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

642 F.3d 442

Eugene Tyrone DeCASTRO, Petitioner–Appellant,

v.Gerald BRANKER, Warden, Central Prison, Raleigh, North Carolina, Respondent–Appellee.

No. 10–5.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued: March 25, 2011.Decided: June 3, 2011.

ARGUED: Jonathan Lee Megerian, Megerian & Wells, Asheboro, North Carolina, for Appellant. Sandra Wallace–Smith, North Carolina Department of Justice, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Paul M. Green, Durham, North Carolina, for Appellant. Roy Cooper, Attorney General of North Carolina, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.Before TRAXLER, Chief Judge, and WILKINSON and WYNN, Circuit Judges.Affirmed by published opinion. Judge WYNN wrote the opinion, in which Chief Judge TRAXLER and Judge WILKINSON concurred.

OPINION

WYNN, Circuit Judge:

Petitioner Eugene Tyrone DeCastro seeks habeas relief from his capital sentence for slaying Leon and Margaret Batten. Petitioner argues that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that the State of North Carolina violated his Eighth Amendment and due process rights by presenting to the jury evidence and argument that contradicted those presented in the trials of his co-defendants. A state court denied Petitioner habeas relief, and the federal district court correctly determined that the state court's decision did not constitute an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law or an unreasonable determination of the facts. Accordingly, we affirm.

I.

In 1993, Petitioner Eugene DeCastro was charged with the murders of Leon and Margaret Batten and robbery with a dangerous weapon of Leon Batten. A Johnston County, North Carolina jury found Petitioner guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of robbery with a dangerous weapon. After a sentencing hearing, the jury recommended a death sentence for each murder conviction. The trial court imposed the recommended death sentences, as well as an additional consecutive sentence of forty years' imprisonment for the robbery conviction. Petitioner appealed to the Supreme Court of North Carolina, which detailed the salient facts in State v. DeCastro, 342 N.C. 667, 467 S.E.2d 653 (1996).

At about 5:20 p.m. on February 29, 1992, George Goode, his brother Chris Goode, Glenn Troublefield, and Petitioner went for a ride in George Goode's car. Id. at 676, 467 S.E.2d at 657. In Smithfield, North Carolina, they saw a man walking along the road, and George Goode stopped the car. Id. Petitioner, George Goode, and Chris Goode got out of the car and assaulted and robbed the man. Id. George Goode, Chris Goode, and Petitioner then returned to the car, and George Goode drove away at a high rate of speed. Id.

George Goode played “chicken” with other vehicles and eventually lost control of his car and ran into a ditch. Id. at 677, 467 S.E.2d at 657. After freeing the car, Petitioner, George Goode, and Chris Goode went to a store and bought a bottle of wine. Id. George Goode's reckless driving continued until he lost control of the car again and stranded it near the Dallas Mobile Home Park. Id. After unsuccessfully trying to free the car, Petitioner, George Goode, and Chris Goode began walking toward the Dallas Mobile Home Park, where George Goode and his wife rented a mobile home. Id. Troublefield, who had asked to be brought home several times, left the area. Id.

At about 6:35 p.m., a friend of George Goode's wife saw George Goode and several other men at the Goodes' mobile home. Id. Earlier that day, the owner of the Dallas Mobile Home Park, Leon Batten, informed one of the Goodes' neighbors that the Goodes' mobile home was vacant and that he was seeking new tenants. Id. The Goodes had apparently been delinquent in paying their rent. Id. Between 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., the neighbor saw a strange man in the mobile home and informed Leon Batten. Id. Leon Batten drove his truck to the Goodes' home. Id. A few minutes later, witnesses saw several African–American men standing over and beating Leon Batten in the Goodes' yard. Id. A park resident drove to the Batten residence and informed Leon Batten's wife, Margaret, of the skirmish, and Margaret Batten drove to the Goodes' mobile home. Id. Other witnesses drove to the home of a deputy sheriff and informed him of the trouble. Id.

At about 7:30 p.m., a deputy sheriff arrived at the Goodes' mobile home and saw three African–American men standing in the yard. Id. At trial, the deputy identified two of the men as Petitioner and George Goode. Id. The men fled, and the deputy was unable to catch them. Id. The deputy then discovered the bodies of Leon and Margaret Batten in the cargo bed of Leon Batten's truck. Id. They had been stabbed multiple times, and neither had any vital signs. Id.

Another deputy sheriff approaching the scene spotted George Goode two-tenths of a mile from the mobile home park. Id. George Goode was quickly walking away from the area. Id. When taken into custody, George Goode had Leon Batten's wallet. Within an hour after George Goode was taken into custody, Chris Goode approached the crime scene seeking his brother. After noticing bloodstains on Chris Goode's clothing, officers placed him in custody and discovered Leon Batten's partial dental plate in his pocket. Id. at 677–78, 467 S.E.2d at 657.

Investigators continued their search. Id. Around 6:00 a.m. the next morning, with the aid of a State Bureau of Investigation (“SBI”) airplane, officials spotted Petitioner walking along a dirt road in the area. Id. at 678, 467 S.E.2d at 657. Officials found Petitioner lying at the base of a tree and arrested him. Id.

Investigators later found three sets of human tracks leading from an area near the Goodes' mobile home and were able to follow the tracks despite several gaps. Id. The tracks diverged, and one set of tracks ended approximately fifty yards from where Petitioner was arrested. Id. at 678, 467 S.E.2d at 657–58.

Investigators found a wine bottle in the passenger compartment of Leon Batten's truck. Id. at 678, 467 S.E.2d at 658. Petitioner's fingerprints matched one of two fingerprint lifts taken from the bottle. Id. Further, the inside of the truck tailgate was smeared with a blood-like substance that had a handprint in it. Id. That handprint matched Petitioner's. Id. And blood taken from the camouflage jacket Petitioner was wearing when arrested matched Leon Batten's. Id.

An SBI agent and a sheriff's detective testified regarding a statement Petitioner made while they were collecting his clothing at the jail. Id. The officers took Petitioner's clothes and told him to remove everything from his pockets and place it on a nearby bench. Id. Petitioner removed $13.00 from his pockets, and the detective asked the agent “if it was okay for [Petitioner] to keep the money.” Id. The agent then turned toward Petitioner and saw some money in Petitioner's top pocket. Id. Before the agent could say anything, Petitioner said, “I had some of my own money, too, now.” Id.

The medical examiner who conducted the autopsies on Leon and Margaret Batten also testified. Id. She described the eight stab wounds to Margaret Batten's head and neck, the fifteen stab wounds to her chest and abdomen, and the numerous defensive wounds on the backs of her hands. Id. The medical examiner testified that Margaret Batten's death was neither quick nor painless; rather, she was likely to have remained conscious for the five to ten minutes it took her to die. Id. at 679, 467 S.E.2d at 658. As for Leon Batten, the medical examiner described several stab and puncture wounds on his body, internal injuries, blunt trauma to his head and face, and the stab wound to the heart that ultimately killed him. Id.

Petitioner did not testify or offer any evidence during the guilt phase of the trial. Id. The jury found him guilty of murdering Leon and Margaret Batten as well as robbing Leon Batten. Id. at 676, 467 S.E.2d at 656.

During the sentencing phase of Petitioner's trial, the State offered testimony from the medical examiner regarding the painful nature of the victims' deaths. Id. at 679, 467 S.E.2d at 658. The State also introduced evidence that when Petitioner was seventeen, he was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and common law robbery and received a six-year sentence for those offenses. Id.

In response, Petitioner offered the testimony of several witnesses during the sentencing proceeding. A police detective testified about the circumstances of Petitioner's prior conviction for voluntary manslaughter. Id. The detective testified that Petitioner had been at a birthday party when one of his friends got into a fight. Id. Petitioner handed his friend a knife, and the friend stabbed the other person and ran. Id. The detective testified that Petitioner did not stab anyone and was very cooperative during the investigation of the crime. Id. Prison and jail officials also testified that Petitioner was well-behaved and cooperative while awaiting trial in this case. Id.

Petitioner's mother and aunt testified about his childhood and family life. Id. They spoke about the separation of Petitioner's parents but gave an impression of a relatively normal childhood and loving family that would suffer if Petitioner were executed. They also testified that Petitioner had been regularly employed at the time of the murders and robbery. Id. at 680, 467 S.E.2d at 659. Petitioner then addressed the jury, stating that he was very sorry about the Battens' deaths. Id. Nevertheless, the jury returned recommendations for death on both murder counts. Id. at 676, 467 S.E.2d at 656.

Petitioner appealed his sentence to the Supreme Court of North Carolina. That court rejected Petitioner's argument that a knife found in a local pond ¹ was improperly admitted to evidence on relevance grounds. Id. at 680, 467 S.E.2d at 659. Likewise, the Supreme Court of North Carolina disagreed with Petitioner's contention that he was deprived of a fair trial when ...