Ex parte Hodges

• Decision Date: 14 March 2003
• Citation: Ex parte Hodges, 856 So.2d 936 (Ala. 2003)
• Parties: Ex parte Melvin G. HODGES. (In re Melvin Gene Hodges v. State of Alabama).
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

856 So.2d 936

Ex parte Melvin G. HODGES.

(In re Melvin Gene Hodges v. State of Alabama).

1010619.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

March 14, 2003.

Floyd Likins, Jr., Opelika, for petitioner.

William H. Pryor, Jr., atty. gen., and Anne C. Adams and A. Vernon Barnett IV, asst. attys. gen., for respondent.

Bryan A. Stevenson, Angela L. Setzer, and Charlotte R. Morrison, Montgomery, for amicus curiae Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama, in support of the petitioner.

LYONS, Justice.

Melvin G. Hodges was convicted in June 1999 of murder made capital because the murder was committed during the course of a robbery in the first degree. See § 13A-5-40(a)(2), Ala.Code 1975. Hodges and others robbed a Golden Corral Restaurant in Opelika on January 4, 1998. After the robbery, Elizabeth "Beth" Seaton, a supervisor at the restaurant, was taken from the restaurant at gunpoint and later was beaten and run over by a vehicle. She died as a result of her injuries. The jury, by a vote of 8-4, recommended that Hodges be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, but the trial court overrode the jury's recommendation and sentenced Hodges to death.

The Court of Criminal Appeals initially remanded the case for the trial court to correct specified errors and deficiencies in its sentencing order. Hodges v. State, 856 So.2d 875 (Ala.Crim.App.2001) ("Hodges I"). On remand, the trial court complied with the Court of Criminal Appeals' directives, entered a new sentencing order, and again sentenced Hodges to death. The Court of Criminal Appeals then affirmed Hodges's conviction and sentence. Hodges v. State, 856 So.2d 875, 894 (Ala. Crim.App.2001) ("Hodges II"). This Court granted certiorari review only as to the following two issues regarding Hodges's sentence:

1. Whether the judicial override provision in Alabama's capital sentencing scheme violates the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, in light of the United States Supreme Court's decision in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), and its decision in Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428 (2002).

2. Whether the trial court's error in restricting mitigating evidence during the penalty phase was harmless because the jurors recommended life imprisonment without parole by a vote of 8-4. In other words, should we consider whether the error caused the number of votes in favor of life imprisonment to be reduced and thereby reduced the persuasiveness of the jury's recommendation to the trial court and accordingly increased the likelihood of an override in favor of death?

The Court of Criminal Appeals stated the facts of this case as follows:

"The State's evidence tended to show the following. On January 5, 1998, two hunters discovered the nude body of Beth Seaton on the side of County Road 26 in Macon County. The coroner testified that Seaton died as a result of a combination of blunt-force injuries to her head, neck, chest, and abdomen, the most significant being the crushing injuries to her chest and abdomen, which resulted from having been run over by a vehicle. Tire marks ran vertically up and down Seaton's back. A name tag from the Golden Corral Restaurant with Hodges's name on it was found near Seaton's body.

"Hodges and Seaton were coworkers at the Golden Corral Restaurant in Opelika. Seaton was a supervisor, and one of her duties was to close the restaurant. Hodges was a crew leader at the restaurant. On January 5, 1998, Trina Eady, another employee at Golden Corral, and Hodges arrived to open the restaurant. The alarm system was deactivated and the safe was open. There was no evidence of a forced entry. They telephoned police.

"An investigation led police to Marlo Murph. Murph testified at trial that Hodges suggested robbing the Golden Corral. He said that Hodges told him that Sunday night was the best time because there would be a lot of money in the safe. Murph said that Hodges got the pistol used to murder Seaton from Greg Holstick. The two planned to get to the restaurant while Seaton was closing up. According to Murph, their plans went awry. When they arrived at the restaurant they saw Seaton driving away in her van. They followed the van and were able to get Seaton to pull over. While Hodges was talking to her, Murph said, he entered the van and pointed a gun at her. The two then forced her to drive back to the Golden Corral and open the safe. Murph and Hodges then forced Seaton to drive her van around the area. Murph testified that Seaton sensed that something was going to happen; he stated that she started taking off her clothes and saying that she would have sex with them if they did not hurt her. They eventually made her pull the vehicle over. Murph testified that Hodges said that Seaton knew too much. Hodges then pulled Seaton out of the van and began hitting and choking her. Murph said that while Hodges was holding her, he hit Seaton with a pistol. Murph testified that when he realized what Hodges was going to do he walked away. He said that Hodges got into the driver's seat in Seaton's van and ran over Seaton about four times, back and forth. The two then left in Seaton's van. Murph said that they drove around for several minutes and Hodges realized that his Golden Corral name tag was missing. The two tried to return to where they had left the body, but they were lost and running out of gas. Murph said that he threw Seaton's purse out of the window near the rest area in Tuskegee and that they parked Seaton's van at Mount Olive Baptist Church. Hodges's clothes were covered in blood so he gave them to Murph to dispose of. Murph led police to where he had disposed of Hodges's clothes. Murph testified that Hodges gave him $2,500 for his part in the robbery/murder. (Murph had $1,427 in his possession at the time of his arrest.)

"Kitt Porter, Hodges's aunt, testified that, on January 5, 1998, she drove Hodges to Tuskegee. She said that he told her that police had discovered his Golden Corral name tag at the murder scene. Porter testified that Hodges admitted to her that he had robbed and killed Seaton. He told her about the murder—an account that corroborated Murph's account in almost all respects.

Porter testified that Hodges told her that he gave $5,000 to Murph for his part in the robbery/murder.

"Several witnesses also testified that the day after the robbery/murder Hodges had a large quantity of money. Hodges himself testified that he gave his girlfriend $600. Forensic evidence connected Hodges to the robbery/murder. A cigarette butt recovered from Seaton's van contained saliva, the DNA of which matched Hodges's. Also, at the time of Hodges's arrest he had blood on his watch and ring. Furthermore, blood found on the clothes that Murph had discarded for Hodges matched Seaton's DNA.

"Hodges testified in his own defense and offered his own version of the facts surrounding Seaton's murder. Hodges testified that he orchestrated the robbery and enlisted the help of Craig Hicks, Greg Holstick, and Marlo Murph. Hodges testified that, on the night of the intended robbery, Hicks did not show up and they had to revise their plans. He said that he planned to be at his apartment so that he would not be implicated in the robbery. He said that he wondered what was taking so long and went across the street from the Golden Corral to see what was happening. Hodges further testified that after about one hour Greg Holstick returned and said that they had to get rid of Seaton because she knew them. (Hodges had previously introduced Holstick to Seaton.) Hodges said that Holstick gave him $600. Hodges said that he was not present at the time of the robbery or the murder and that he knew nothing about the murder. He said that the State's witnesses were all lying."

Hodges II, 856 So.2d at 895-96 (footnote omitted).

Concerning the trial court's sentencing order, the Court of Criminal Appeals stated:

"The trial court found that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances. The trial court found, as aggravating circumstances, that the murder was committed during a robbery and during a kidnapping, and that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel as compared to other capital offenses. The trial court stated:

"`The Court finds, from the evidence, as follows: The victim's nude body was found beside a rural road in Macon County. Medical and other testimony revealed that she had been beaten and choked after being abducted from the location of the robbery in her van. Blood matching her type was found inside the van and on clothing of [Hodges]. The accomplice testified that she pleaded for her life as she was being driven around naked inside the van. It is unclear as to how long she was ... driven around naked and how long she was beaten and choked before finally being dumped on the side of the road. In the view of this Court, that was extraordinarily cruel and likely generated great fear and terror in her during her last hours on this earth. She was then dumped on the ground and run over repeatedly with her own van. Blood matching her type was found on the underside of the vehicle.'

"(May 2, 2001, Amended Sentencing Order.)

"....

"Here, the facts support the trial court's finding that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel as compared to other capital murders. See Ex parte Hutcherson, 727 So.2d 861 (Ala.1998) (murder especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel when victim was beaten to death), cert. denied, 527 U.S. 1024, 119 S.Ct. 2371, 144 L.Ed.2d 775 (1999). The evidence demonstrated that Seaton pleaded for her life for some time before she was beaten with fists and a pistol and was ultimately run over with her own vehicle. Murph testified that she even took off her clothes and offered to have sex with Hodges and Murph if they would not kill her. The evidence further demonstrated that Seaton had been physically and psychologically

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