Foster v. Johnson
| Decision Date | 06 June 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 01-60270.,01-60270. |
| Citation | 293 F.3d 766 |
| Parties | Ron Chris FOSTER, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Robert L. JOHNSON, Commissioner, Mississippi Department of Corrections, Respondent-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Silas Wood McCharen (argued), Daniel, Coker, Horton & Bell, Cynthia Ann Stewart, Jackson, MS, for Foster.
Marvin L. White, Jr. (argued), Jackson, MS, for Johnson.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.
Before KING, Chief Judge, and SMITH and BENAVIDES, Circuit Judges.
Petitioner-Appellant Ron Chris Foster, a Mississippi death-row inmate, appeals the district court's denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus brought under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (1994 & Supp. V 1999). He raises three claims on appeal: (1) violation of his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel on the ground that his counsel failed to investigate and to present available mitigating evidence, (2) violation of his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel on the ground that his counsel failed to file a motion to transfer Foster's case to juvenile court, and (3) violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments' prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments on the ground that Mississippi does not mandate particularized findings regarding the "maturity and moral culpability" of defendants under eighteen years old before they may be tried and sentenced for a capital offense as an adult. The district court granted Foster's request for a certificate of appealability ("COA") on the first claim, and he requests that this court grant COAs on the other two claims. For the following reasons, we (1) affirm the district court's judgment denying Foster's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel based on the failure to investigate and to present sufficient mitigating evidence, (2) grant a COA on the ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim based on the failure to file a motion to transfer to a juvenile court and then affirm the district court's denial of habeas relief on that claim, and (3) deny Foster's request for a COA on the Eighth Amendment claim.
On September 8, 1989, a Mississippi grand jury indicted Petitioner-Appellant Ron Chris Foster for the murder of George Shelton in the course of committing armed robbery, a capital offense in Mississippi. See MISS.CODE ANN. § 97-3-19(2)(e) (2000).1 Although Foster was only seventeen years old at the time of the alleged offense, and the Mississippi youth courts generally have exclusive jurisdiction over criminal cases brought against anyone under eighteen years of age, see MISS. CODE ANN. §§ 43-21-105(d), 43-21-151(1) (2000), the state district attorney prosecuted Foster as an adult pursuant to section 43-21-151 of the Mississippi Code, which provides that "[a]ny act attempted or committed by a child, which if committed by an adult would be punishable under state or federal law by life imprisonment or death, will be in the original jurisdiction of the circuit court" rather than the youth court, id. § 43-21-151(1)(a).
Before trial, Foster's counsel, Michael Farrow, filed a motion for a psychiatric examination to determine Foster's competency to stand trial and to ascertain "any mitigating factors or circumstances which might be used by the defense in the penalty phase of the case." The motion requested that the state provide for "a full psychiatric evaluation, psychiatric history, mental and emotional history and all relevant psychiatric and physiological testing of the Defendant."2 After a hearing on the motion, the state trial court entered an order committing Foster to the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield ("Whitfield") to undergo psychiatric evaluation for the specific purposes of determining: (1) his competency to stand trial and (2) his sanity at the time of the offense. However, the trial court "h[e]ld its ruling in abeyance on the defendant's request [for a psychiatric opinion] on mitigating evidence until such time as it [] received the report of the Physicians at [Whitfield]."
On July 20, 1990, the state trial court received a letter written by the director of forensic service at Whitfield reporting on the staff's examination of Foster (the "Whitfield report"). According to the Whitfield report, the staff had concluded that Foster "did have a rational as well as factual understanding of courtroom proceedings and would be able to assist his attorney in preparing his defense" and that "he knew the difference between right and wrong in relation to his actions at the time of the crime." The report further stated:
At no time during our observation of him here has Mr. Foster displayed any symptom of psychotic disorder or organic mental disorder. Our ward observations, former mental status observations, and psychological testing all supported the diagnosis of Conduct Disorder and Personality Disorder with Antisocial and Narcissistic Features. These diagnoses reflect an individual who tends to disregard the rules of society and places his own needs and desires ahead of those of other people. Mr. Foster tends to over-emphasize his own importance and prowess and minimize his responsibility for his behavior and its consequences. Because of these personality traits he may not always choose to cooperate with his attorney or with the court, but I believe that he is capable of cooperating if he chooses to. He has been involved in physical altercations both in the jail and here and this behavior may well continue.
Upon receiving the Whitfield report, the trial court did not rule on the mitigating-evidence portion of Foster's motion for psychiatric examination. However, after the Whitfield report was submitted to the court, Farrow filed a motion requesting state funding to hire a mental-health expert for the purpose of developing mitigating evidence. In a hearing on this and several other pre-trial motions on August 29, 1990, Farrow informed the trial court that he needed time to make inquiries regarding the availability and fee schedules of mental-health experts. Consequently, the trial court entered an order declining to rule at that time on Foster's motion to hire a mental-health expert.
In October 1990, Farrow filed a motion for continuance on the ground that his poor health condition (mononucleosis) precluded him from providing Foster with an adequate defense. During cross-examination by the state district attorney at the hearing on this motion, Farrow indicated that he intended to present the testimony of mental-health experts as evidence mitigating against imposition of the death penalty at the sentencing phase of Foster's trial. However, Farrow never submitted information regarding the availability and fee schedules of experts or otherwise renewed his request for state funding to secure expert assistance in developing mitigating evidence. The state trial court granted Farrow's motion for a continuance, and almost three months later, on January 14, 1991, Foster's trial began without a ruling on the motion requesting funding for or appointment of a mental-health expert.
In the guilt/innocence phase of Foster's trial, the state built its case against Foster around the testimony of Vincent Harris, a co-defendant charged as an accessory to capital murder who claimed that he was with Foster on the night of the crime. Harris, who was fifteen years old at the time of the offense, testified that Foster told Harris that Foster planned to rob a convenience store by bringing some items to the cashier's counter as if to purchase them and then jumping behind the counter in an attempt to surprise Shelton (who they knew would be working at the store at this time) and then rob the store. According to Harris, he and Foster rode a bicycle to the convenience store, and Harris waited outside some distance from the store while Foster rode the bicycle the rest of the way and entered the store. Harris testified that after a short period of time, Foster came out of the store and told Harris that he had shot Shelton. According to Harris, Foster explained that as he and Shelton were struggling with each other to gain control of a gun that Shelton had pulled from behind the cashier's counter, Shelton was shot in the fray. Harris further testified that Foster was carrying this gun when he came out of the store. In an effort to corroborate Harris's testimony, the state introduced the testimony of various detectives and other law enforcement officials who had worked on the case and of forensic experts who had examined some of the physical evidence (e.g., the gun and fingerprints lifted from areas inside the convenience store).
Foster's defense strategy consisted mainly of attempting to implicate Harris as the perpetrator of the crime. The investigators had retrieved the gun used to kill Shelton from Rosie Clark, Harris's mother. By presenting her testimony and that of her husband (Harris's stepfather), William Clark, Farrow sought to bring out inconsistencies in Harris's testimony regarding how Rosie Clark had obtained the gun. In his closing argument, Farrow also asserted that if the jurors concluded that Foster was responsible for Shelton's death, they should find Foster guilty of manslaughter because the shooting of Shelton occurred accidentally during a struggle.
On January 17, 1991, the jury found Foster guilty of capital murder. The following day, the trial court held the sentencing phase of Foster's trial. The state reintroduced and then rested on all of the evidence presented at the guilt/innocence stage of the trial, contending that this evidence proved three of the eight aggravating circumstances enumerated in Mississippi's death-penalty statute:
(1) "The capital offense was committed while the defendant was engaged, or was an accomplice, in the commission...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Bible v. Stephens
...Schriro v. Landrigan, 550 U.S. 465, 473 (2007); see also Morrow v. Dretke, 367 F.3d 309, 313 (5th Cir. 2004); Foster v. Johnson, 293 F.3d 766, 776 (5th Cir. 2002). To meet the AEDPA standard, "a state prisoner must show that the state court's ruling . . . was so lacking in justification tha......
-
Prieto v. Dretke
...strategy rather than a lack of investigation, those questions are less susceptible to judicial second-guessing); Foster v. Johnson, 293 F.3d 766, 780-84 (5th Cir.2002), cert. denied, 537 U.S. 1054, 123 S.Ct. 625, 154 L.Ed.2d 532 (2002), (holding objectively reasonable trial counsel's decisi......
-
Woodward v. Epps
...[the district court's] conclusions of law, de novo." Pondexter v. Quarterman, 537 F.3d 511, 519 (5th Cir.2008) (citing Foster v. Johnson, 293 F.3d 766, 776 (5th Cir. 2002)). III. A. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel: Concession of Guilt "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy......
-
Masterson v. Thaler
...Schriro v. Landrigan, 550 U.S. 465, 473 (2007); see also Morrow v. Dretke, 367 F.3d 309, 313 (5th Cir. 2004); Foster v. Johnson, 293 F.3d 766, 776 (5th Cir. 2002). Federal courts likewise afford significant deference to a state court's factual determinations, presuming all factual findings ......