Ex parte Womack
| Citation | 541 So.2d 47 |
| Parties | Ex parte Clarence WOMACK. (Re Clarence Womack v. State). 86-1121. |
| Decision Date | 02 September 1988 |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Walter L. Blocker III of Smith, Hynds, Blocker, Lowther & Henderson, Birmingham, for petitioner.
Don Siegelman, Atty. Gen., and John Gibbs, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondent.
This is a petition for writ of certiorari filed by Clarence Womack to review the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals. That court affirmed a circuit court's denial of Womack's petition for writ of error coram nobis.
On June 5, 1981, Womack was indicted for the capital murder of Arthur Bullock. On March 24, 1982, Womack was found guilty of murdering Bullock in the course of a robbery and the jury recommended the death sentence the following day. On April 30, 1982, the trial court sentenced Womack to death. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and death sentence. Womack v. State, 435 So.2d 754 (Ala.Cr.App.1983). This Court also affirmed his conviction and sentence. 435 So.2d 766 (Ala.1983).
On July 9, 1984, Womack filed a petition for writ of error coram nobis in the Montgomery County Circuit Court. The circuit court held an evidentiary hearing on November 19 and 20, 1984, and reconvened on January 7, 1985. On February 5, 1986, the court denied the petition, without opinion or findings of fact. On April 14, 1987, the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the denial of the petition. 541 So.2d 40 (Ala.Cr.App.1987). This Court granted certiorari to review two issues: First, whether the State denied Womack due process of law guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment by its failure to produce exculpatory information within its control; second, whether Womack was denied his Sixth Amendment right to counsel by virtue of defense counsel's numerous allegedly prejudicial acts and omissions during the guilt phase of trial.
The facts of this case are complex, but a thorough understanding of them is necessary for a just disposition of the issues presented. Because the opinion below and the earlier opinions on direct appeal adequately explain the operative facts of the crime, we will elaborate on them only as necessary to address the issues presented.
On February 2, 1981, the City Curb Market, located in Montgomery, Alabama, was robbed by someone who killed the owner, Mr. Arthur Bullock, by shooting him with a pistol. Although there were no eyewitnesses to the crime, the State called as witnesses several customers who were in the store just before and just after the crime. Dora Helms testified that she purchased groceries from Bullock on the morning of February 2, 1981. She returned home with her purchase and was met by Mattie Hunt, a friend of the family. Shortly thereafter Mrs. Hunt went to the City Curb Market for beer. She testified that Womack was in the market buying cigarettes when she purchased the beer. Mrs. Hunt returned to Mrs. Helms's house and sometime later sent her eight-year-old daughter, Demetrius, to the market for cigarettes. Demetrius went to the City Curb Market but returned when she could not find Mr. Bullock.
James Reffin, who is a route salesman for Flowers Baking Company, testified that he was making a delivery that morning in the same block as the City Curb Market. A man came to him while he was making the delivery and told him that he had found Bullock on the floor. The two men returned to the City Curb Market and found Bullock shot and apparently dead. The men then went up the street and called the police, who arrived on the scene at approximately 11:55 a.m.
We first discuss the facts regarding the withholding of exculpatory evidence by the State, beginning with evidence gathered at the initial stage of the investigation and continuing through the trial. The first aspect of this alleged violation involves suppression of exculpatory police reports.
On February 5, 1981, Montgomery Police Officer G.J. Vaillancourt drafted a supplementary police report on the Bullock murder. The report contained information gathered from Rex Jones and Neal Martin, who were in jail for first degree robbery and were suspects in the Bullock murder as well. The report indicated that Jones and Martin had spoken to two police officers regarding Womack's involvement in the murder. They indicated that on February 2, the date of the Bullock murder, Clarence Womack and another subject known as "Red" were at Jones's house, located at 407 Flood Street, talking about having murdered Bullock. Jones related to the police that Womack told him that the reason the robbery went sour was that a little girl was coming toward the store and they ran off. Jones stated that Womack had said he was the one who shot Bullock during the robbery. Jones and Martin were shown "mug books" and, according to the report, identified Ralph Miller as the man known as "Red." The statement by Jones and Martin is inconsistent with their later statements to the police and with their testimony in court. They indicated in court that they met Womack and Charles Johnson on Early Street and discussed the crime there, not at Jones's house on Flood Street as stated in the police report. The inconsistency between the police report of February 5, on the one hand, and later police reports and Jones's testimony before the jury, on the other hand, is sufficient to cast a doubt on Jones's veracity. The February 5 report, therefore, tended to exculpate Womack. Maurice Bell, Womack's defense attorney, testified at the coram nobis hearing that he was not provided with this information prior to trial.
On February 10, 1981, Montgomery Police Officer R.H. Roper drafted a supplementary police report regarding the Bullock murder. The report indicated that Mrs. Denise (Dora) Helms, who was later called by the State as a witness to the events surrounding the offense, had been shown two line-ups that included Clarence Womack and that she did not identify him as the person she saw leaving the City Curb Market on February 2. This information tended to exculpate Womack, because Mrs. Helms was called on behalf of the State. Attorney Bell also testified at the coram nobis hearing that he was not provided this information prior to trial.
On February 19, 1981, Montgomery City Police Officer D.H. Carmichael drafted a supplementary police report regarding the Bullock murder. The report contained statements by Rex Jones that contradicted his statement of February 5. The report on the 19th indicated that a meeting occurred between Womack, "Red," Jones, and Martin on Early Street, rather than at Jones's house, as indicated earlier. Jones also indicated that Womack did not get any money because Bullock would not open the safe, rather than because he was scared off by the little girl, as Jones had indicated on the 5th.
The report also indicated that Womack was in custody on Friday, February 6. Officer Carmichael indicated that Womack was in custody at 3:15 p.m., at which time he began questioning him in regard to the Bullock homicide. The report states the following:
This report tended to exculpate Womack both because it showed inconsistencies with prior statements by the State's key witnesses and because it showed Womack's intoxication when the police interrogation began. Maurice Bell indicated at the coram nobis hearing that he was not provided with this information at the trial or at the suppression hearing.
Womack allegedly confessed to the Bullock murder at 10:30 p.m., Saturday, February 7, 1981. The Montgomery Police Department did not make an audio or video tape of this alleged confession. Officer R.T. Ward typed the statement that Womack signed. Officer Ward was alone with Womack in the interrogation room when he took the statement, but there were several police officers present when Womack signed it. The statement, which was admitted at the trial, states the following:
The statement was followed by a narrative between Ward and Womack wherein the following was elicited:
The defense offered by Womack at the suppression hearing and trial was that the typed statement was not dictated by Womack but rather was composed by Ward and represented a conglomeration of the evidence gathered prior to Womack's arrest and that Womack's signature thereon was coerced.
Perhaps Womack's most serious allegation of the State's failure to produce...
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