Dotson v. State

• Decision Date: 23 March 2022
• Docket Number: W2019-01059-CCA-R3-PD
• Court: Court of Appeals of Tennessee. Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
• Parties: JESSIE DOTSON v. STATE OF TENNESSEE

JESSIE DOTSON
v.
STATE OF TENNESSEE

No. W2019-01059-CCA-R3-PD

Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, Jackson

March 23, 2022

Session: August 17, 2021.

Appeal from the Criminal Court for Shelby County No. 08-07688 James C. Beasley, Jr., Special Judge

The Petitioner, Jessie Dotson, appeals the post-conviction court's denial of his post-conviction petition, in which he challenged his six convictions for first degree premeditated murder and three convictions for attempted first degree murder and his resulting sentences of death for each of the first degree murder convictions plus 120 years. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that (1) he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial and on appeal; (2) the Administrative Office of the Courts ("AOC") and the Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court improperly vacated the post-conviction court's orders granting the Petitioner's request for funding of experts; (3) the convictions and death sentences were the result of juror misconduct; (4) the State and the trial court committed various errors; (5) the Petitioner's convictions and death sentences and Tennessee's execution method are unconstitutional; and (6) cumulative error warrants relief. Upon reviewing the record, the parties' briefs and oral arguments, and the applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Criminal Court Affirmed

Justyna Scalpone, Post-Conviction Defender; and Andrew L. Harris (at hearing and on appeal), Kelly Gleason (at hearing), and Christopher M. Minton (on appeal), Assistant Post-Conviction Defenders, for the appellant, Jessie Dotson.

Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter; Andrée Sophia Blumstein, Solicitor General; Courtney N. Orr, Assistant Attorney General; Amy P. Weirich, District Attorney General; and Stephen Jones, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

John Everett Williams, P.J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which D. Kelly Thomas, Jr., and Timothy L. Easter, JJ., joined.

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OPINION

JOHN EVERETT WILLIAMS, PRESIDING JUDGE.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In March of 2008, the Petitioner shot and killed his brother, Mr. Cecil Dotson, Sr.; his brother's fiancé, Ms. Marissa Williams; his brother's friend, Mr. Hollis Seals; and Mr. Seals's girlfriend, Ms. Shindri Roberson, while at his brother's home. The Petitioner then attacked his brother's five children with kitchen knives and wooden boards. Mr. Cecil Dotson's four-year-old son, Cemario, and two-year-old son, Cecil II, died as the result of injuries sustained from the attack. His nine-year-old son, C.J., five-year-old son, Cedrick, and two-month-old daughter, Ceniyah, survived the attack.^[1]

A jury convicted the Petitioner of six counts of premeditated first degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder. The jury sentenced the Petitioner to death for each of the first degree murder convictions. Following a separate sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced the Petitioner as a Range II, multiple offender to forty years for each conviction of attempted first degree murder to be served consecutively to each other and to the death sentences. The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed the Petitioner's convictions and sentences on direct appeal. See State v. Dotson, 450 S.W.3d 1, 11-12 (Tenn. 2014).

The Petitioner timely filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief. The Office of the Post-Conviction Defender ("OPCD") was appointed to represent the Petitioner and filed an amended petition. Following an evidentiary hearing, the post-conviction court issued a lengthy written order denying relief. This appeal ensued.

Trial Proceedings

We summarize the evidence presented at trial as it relates to the issues raised in the post-conviction proceedings.

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A. Guilt Phase

1. Discovery of the Victims

Following the Petitioner's release from prison in August 2007, he began living with his sister, Ms. Nicole Dotson, at her apartment in Memphis, while working with his father, Mr. Jessie Dotson Sr., as a painter. Id. at 12. The Petitioner's family referred to him as "Junior." Id. Ms. Nicole Dotson testified that the Petitioner held a "grudge" against his family for failing to visit him more often while he was in jail and that the Petitioner expressed his feelings to her on a daily basis. Id. at 29. She stated that she was too frightened of the Petitioner to ask him to move out of her apartment. Id. The Petitioner's father testified that the Petitioner and Mr. Cecil Dotson had a normal relationship but that it bothered the Petitioner whenever Mr. Cecil Dotson told others that the Petitioner had recently been released from jail. Id. at 30.

On Saturday, March 1, 2008, the Petitioner, his father, and his half-brother, Mr. William Waddell, went to Mr. Cecil Dotson's Memphis home, which he shared with Ms. Williams and his children. Id. at 12. The Petitioner's father recalled seeing a "powder blue" revolver, which was the type of firearm that did not eject shell casings, on the counter at the home. Id. at 30. Mr. Cecil Dotson moved the gun, commenting that the children might mistake it for a toy, and told the Petitioner that he had moved the gun. Id. Mr. Waddell stated that the Petitioner had a black and silver gun that evening, instead of the blue revolver that he ordinarily carried. Id. at 31. The Petitioner's father left during the early evening, and Mr. Waddell left at 10:30 or 11:00 p.m. Id. at 12.

At 10:00 or 10:30 p.m., the Petitioner and Mr. Cecil Dotson went to the home of Ms. Sheila Jones, the Petitioner's girlfriend, but left upon learning that Ms. Jones was not there. Id. at 26. Ms. Keaira Jones, Ms. Sheila Jones's daughter, testified that both the Petitioner and Mr. Cecil Dotson appeared intoxicated. Id. Between 10:30 and 11:30 p.m., the Petitioner, Mr. Cecil Dotson, and Mr. Seals went to the apartment of Mr. Willie Boyd Hill, Jr. Id. at 27. Mr. Hill, Mr. Seals, and Mr. Cecil Dotson were members of the Gangster Disciples, while the Petitioner was a member of the Crips gang. Id. Mr. Seals had recently been released from jail and came to retrieve a pistol he had left with Mr. Hill. Id. Mr. Seals retrieved a P-232 Sig Sauer, .380-caliber handgun, which could hold up to eight rounds, consisting of seven-rounds in the magazine and a single round in the chamber. Id. Mr. Seals took the loaded gun and left with the Petitioner and Mr. Cecil Dotson. Id.

At around midnight on March 2, 2008, Mr. Cecil Dotson, the Petitioner, and Mr. Seals went to the home of Ms. Stacey Young, a friend of Mr. Cecil Dotson. Id. at 29. Mr. Cecil Dotson told her that he would return after dropping off Mr. Seals and the

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Petitioner, but Mr. Cecil Dotson never returned. Id. At approximately 12:30 a.m., Mr. Cecil Dotson, the Petitioner, and Mr. Seals went to the apartment of Ms. Erika Smith, Cecil II's mother, and Mr. Cecil Dotson spoke to her in the parking lot. Id. After the men left, Ms. Smith called Mr. Cecil Dotson multiple times. Id. During the last call at approximately 2:00 a.m., Ms. Smith overheard Mr. Cecil Dotson and the Petitioner arguing and using profanity. Id.

Between 3:00 a.m. and 4:30 a.m., the Petitioner returned to the home of Ms. Sheila Jones and Ms. Keaira Jones. Id. at 26. Ms. Keaira Jones allowed the Petitioner to enter the apartment, and she returned to her bedroom. Id. Approximately five minutes later, the Petitioner knocked on her bedroom door and asked to talk to her. Id. She was putting her son to sleep and told the Petitioner that she would speak to him shortly. Id. She heard water running in the bathroom and fell asleep without speaking to the Petitioner. Id. Ms. Sheila Jones returned home at approximately 5:00 a.m. and found the Petitioner lying in her bed. Id. at 27. They went to sleep and got up at 10:30 or 11:00 a.m., and she drove the Petitioner to Ms. Nicole Dotson's apartment. Id. After the Petitioner and Ms. Sheila Jones left, Ms. Keaira Jones noticed bleach spots on the brown rug in the bathroom. Id. at 26. A bottle of Clorox bleach was in the hallway and was not stored in its usual place. Id.

The Petitioner's father arrived at Ms. Nicole Dotson's apartment the next morning to pick the Petitioner up for work, but the Petitioner was not there. Id. at 12. His father instructed Ms. Nicole Dotson to tell the Petitioner to contact him if he wanted to keep his job. Id. Later that evening, the Petitioner called his father and explained that he had not called earlier because his girlfriend had hidden his cell phone during an argument. Id. He did not explain why he missed work. Id. The Petitioner and Mr. Waddell went to dinner that evening, and the Petitioner asked Mr. Waddell if he wanted to pick up Mr. Cecil Dotson. Id. at 12-13. Because Mr. Waddell had been unable to reach Mr. Cecil Dotson via telephone numerous times throughout the day, they did not go by Mr. Cecil Dotson's home. Id. at 13.

Ms. Smith had not spoken to Mr. Cecil Dotson since the early morning hours of March 2nd, and no one had come to the door of his home when she knocked that afternoon. Id. Although the door was partially open and the radio was playing, Ms. Smith did not see anyone or hear the children. Id. On the morning of March 3rd, Ms. Smith learned that Mr. Cecil Dotson had not shown up for work and that family members had not heard from him. Id. She was unable to reach him by telephone and called the police. Id.

Officer Randall Davis, the first officer to arrive, could "'smell the dead bodies'" as he walked into the front door. Id. A firefighter, who arrived later, confirmed that when

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he approached the house, he "'could smell the blood in the air'" and described it as "'[a] thick, spoiled smell like it had been there a while.'" Id. Officer Davis noted that the storm door was closed and that the interior door was...