Dickerson v. Mitchell, No. 1:00 CV 2356.
| Decision Date | 21 September 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 1:00 CV 2356. |
| Citation | 336 F.Supp.2d 770 |
| Parties | Frederick DICKERSON, Petitioner, v. Betty MITCHELL, Warden, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio |
David L. Doughten, Cleveland, OH, Jeffrey J. Helmick, Helmick, Prajsner & Hoolahan, Toledo, OH, for Plaintiff.
Charles L. Wille, Henry G. Appel, Office of the Attorney General State of Ohio Capital Crimes Section, Columbus, OH, for Defendant.
This matter is before the Court on Petitioner Frederick Dickerson's Petition for a writ of habeas corpus, (Doc. No. 24). Respondent, Betty Mitchell, filed a Return of Writ, (Doc. No. 26), to which Petitioner filed a Traverse, (Doc. No. 46). Thereafter, Respondent filed a Sur-Reply, (Doc. No. 47). For the following reasons, Petitioner's motion for a writ of habeas corpus will be denied.
On May 31, 1985, Dickerson was indicted by a Lucas County grand jury on two counts of aggravated murder pursuant to Ohio Revised Code § 2903.01(B). Each count carried with it a felony murder specification pursuant to Ohio Revised Code § 2929.04(A)(7), a mass murder specification pursuant to Ohio Revised Code § 2929.04(A)(5), and a firearm specification pursuant to Ohio Revised Code § 2929.71.
Dickerson waived his right to a trial by jury and his trial by a three-judge panel commenced on November 4, 1985. The panel found Dickerson guilty of both counts of aggravated murder and of the attached specifications. On November 7, 1985, the panel imposed the death sentence for each count of aggravated murder and two consecutive three-year terms of incarceration for the two firearm specifications. The panel entered its judgment on November 13, 1985.
The Ohio Supreme Court set out the following factual history, as adduced by the evidence presented at trial, upon considering Dickerson's direct appeal of his convictions and sentence:
Defendant-appellant, Frederick Dickerson, and Denise Howard were involved in a relationship between 1978 and March 1985. Out of this relationship, two children, Frederick and Jovan, were born. Howard decided to terminate her relationship with appellant because of verbal and physical abuse he had allegedly inflicted upon her. Shortly thereafter, Howard and her children moved in with Kevin McCoy, who shared a duplex apartment with Davida McClain and her children, Tony, Donya, and Nicole. Nicole was also known as Sue. The apartment was located at 1552 1/2 Pinewood in Toledo, Ohio.
Upon discovering Howard's new address, appellant went there on May 26, 1985 in an attempt to renew his relationship with Howard. When Howard rebuffed appellant's overtures for a reconciliation, appellant assaulted her. This assault was witnessed by Curtis Jewell, a patrolman with the Toledo Police Department who was off-duty at the time. Jewell asked his father to call the police and went to assist Howard. As a result of this incident, appellant was placed under arrest and charged with disorderly conduct. Subsequently, Howard, her children and McCoy went to the residence of McCoy's mother and returned to the Pinewood apartment at approximately 2:30 a.m. on May 27, 1985. At that time, Howard found a note on her car window from appellant. Approximately an hour later, Howard saw appellant at the side of the Pinewood apartment and promptly called police. Howard testified that she called the police again at approximately 4:00 a.m. upon hearing someone at the side of the apartment, and phoned them again approximately one-half hour later when she observed appellant near the apartment. Upon investigating each time, the police were unable to locate appellant in the vicinity of the apartment.
Shortly thereafter, however, Howard testified that she heard a window in the apartment bathroom being opened, whereupon she awakened McCoy. McCoy left the bedroom, grabbed a chair and apparently charged toward the bathroom window. Howard ran out the door and down the stairs when she heard a crash and a gunshot. Upon running to a nearby house, she called the police. Before the police could respond to the call, appellant shot McCoy in the chest and in the back of the head. Appellant also shot Nicole McClain twice in the face. The record indicates that McCoy died at the scene, and that McClain died within approximately two hours of the shootings.
Appellant was arrested at approximately 6:00 a.m. next to the rear stairwell outside the Pinewood apartment. The arresting officers recovered a .22 caliber nine-shot revolver from appellant that was later identified as the murder weapon.
On May 31, 1985, appellant was indicted by the grand jury on two counts of aggravated murder. Each count carried a felony murder specification and a mass murder specification, as well as firearm specifications.
On October 18, 1985, appellant waived his right to a trial by jury. Consequently, his trial before a three-judge panel commenced on November 4, 1985. The guilt phase of the trial concluded the following day, whereupon the panel returned verdicts finding appellant guilty of both counts of aggravated murder, as well as the specifications attached to those counts.
The mitigation hearing took place immediately thereafter, and on November 7, 1985, the panel announced its judgment that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating factors beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, the panel imposed the death sentence for each count of aggravated murder and two consecutive three-year terms of actual incarceration for the conviction of the two firearm specifications. On November 13, 1985, the panel entered its judgment entry of sentence.
State v. Dickerson, 45 Ohio St.3d 206, 543 N.E.2d 1250, 1252 (1989).
Dickerson, represented by Fritz Byers, filed a timely direct appeal of the trial court judgment to the Sixth District Court of Appeals setting forth twelve (12) assignments of error. The Court of Appeals affirmed Dickerson's conviction and sentence. State v. Dickerson, No. L-85-433, 1988 WL 13216 (1988). Dickerson then appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, raising fifteen (15) propositions of law. The Ohio Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence on September 6, 1989. State v. Dickerson, 45 Ohio St.3d 206, 543 N.E.2d 1250 (1989). Dickerson concluded his direct appeal by petitioning the United States Supreme Court for certiorari on three issues of law. The Supreme Court denied the petition. Dickerson v. Ohio, 494 U.S. 1090, 110 S.Ct. 1836, 108 L.Ed.2d 965 (1990).
On November 21, 1990, Dickerson filed a petition for post-conviction relief pursuant to Ohio Revised Code § 2953.21 in the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, alleging twenty-four (24) claims for relief. Concurrently, Dickerson filed a motion to recuse the trial judge, the Honorable Richard Knepper. On February 28, 1991, Dickerson filed a first amended petition, alleging twenty-six (26) claims for relief. Dickerson later filed a second amended petition, alleging the same twenty-six (26) claims for relief. Thereafter, the State of Ohio filed a motion for summary judgment.
Judge Knepper granted Dickerson's motion for recusal and transferred the case to the Honorable James Bates on June 25, 1991. One month later, Judge Bates denied Dickerson's petition for post-conviction relief. Dickerson then filed a motion for relief from judgment and a motion for Judge Bates to recuse himself. The court denied both motions.
Dickerson filed a notice of appeal of his post-conviction petition on August 26, 1991, alleging thirteen (13) assignments of error. On June 11, 1993, the Sixth District Court of Appeals found Dickerson's first assignment of error (recusal of Judge Bates) to be well-taken and denied the remaining assignments of error as moot. The Court of Appeals remanded the case to the trial court.
On June 21, 1993, the case was reassigned to the Honorable Frederick McDonald. Judge McDonald heard oral arguments on the State of Ohio's motion to dismiss the case on January 23, 1998. The trial court granted the State of Ohio's summary judgment motion one month later, dismissing Dickerson's petition for post-conviction relief.
Dickerson again appealed the trial court's decision to the Sixth District Court of Appeals. He filed a brief alleging one assignment of error. On January 14, 2000, the Court of Appeals filed its opinion affirming the trial court's denial of post-conviction relief. Dickerson appealed that decision to the Ohio Supreme Court on February 15, 2000, raising two propositions of law. The Ohio Supreme Court dismissed Dickerson's appeal as not invoking a substantial constitutional question on May 3, 2000. Although Dickerson filed a motion for reconsideration, the Ohio Supreme Court denied the motion on June 14, 2000.
On September 15, 2000, Dickerson filed a Notice of Intent to file a habeas corpus petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, (Doc. No. 1). Concurrently, Dickerson filed a Motion for a Stay of Execution, a Motion for Appointment of Counsel, and a Motion to proceed In Forma Pauperis, (Doc. Nos. 2, 3, 4). The Court granted all motions and appointed David Doughten and Jeffrey Helmick to represent him. Dickerson filed the Petition on March 16, 2001, (Doc. No. 24). Respondent filed the Return of Writ on June 7, 2001, (Doc. No. 26). After requesting and receiving two extensions, Dickerson filed the Traverse on August 6, 2001, (Doc. No. 46), to which Respondent filed a Sur-Reply on August 21, 2001, (Doc. No. 47).
Upon its initial review of the claims presented in the Petition, the Court concluded that the factual evidence Dickerson supplied to support his fourth claims for relief was insufficient to render a fully informed decision. Accordingly, ...
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