Gravley v. Mills
| Citation | 87 F.3d 779 |
| Decision Date | 25 June 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 95-5498,95-5498 |
| Parties | Christopher Eric GRAVLEY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. David MILLS, Warden, Morgan County Regional Correctional Facility, Respondent-Appellee. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit) |
Charles W. B. Fels (argued and briefed), Ritchie, Fels & Dillard, Knoxville, TN, for Petitioner-Appellant.
Amy L. Tarkington, Asst. Atty. Gen. (argued and briefed), Office of the Attorney General, Criminal Justice Div., Nashville, TN, for Respondent-Appellee.
Before: KEITH, MARTIN, and NELSON, Circuit Judges.
KEITH, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which MARTIN, J., joined. NELSON, J. (pp. 790-795), delivered a separate dissenting opinion.
Petitioner, Christopher Eric Gravley, appeals from the district court's denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Gravley contends that during the course of his trial in Tennessee state court, the prosecution made improper references to Gravley's post-Miranda silence in violation of the Constitution. Upon review of the record, we agree and hereby REVERSE the district court's holding and grant the habeas corpus petition.
We are all aware of the immense power and influence a state prosecutor wields when he or she brings a case against an accused. Usually, this power is tempered by safeguards that prohibit the state from violating an accused's constitutional rights. The goal is to attain a fair trial where the accused will be presumed innocent in the eyes of the jury until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by the state. However, regrettably, in some instances a prosecutor abuses his or her power and in so doing, diverges from the goal of seeking truth and justice. This case presents an example of such an instance: One where the prosecutor, in his zest to ensure a conviction, made constitutionally impermissible references before the jury regarding an accused's silence after his arrest.
On Saturday, September 22, 1984, Jane Marie Guili and Lucy Tinsley attended a party in Knoxville, Tennessee, at the fraternity house of her ex-boyfriend, Thomas Enders. Enders and Guili had been together for three years previously but had recently decided to date other people. According to Tinsley's testimony, Guili and Tinsley left Tinsley's apartment around 9:00 p.m. to attend the party. When they arrived, Guili saw Enders in the company of another woman.
While at the party, Guili borrowed Enders' car keys and made a trip to a local convenience store. When she left the party around 1:30 a.m., she did not place the keys in the fraternity house mailbox as Enders had instructed, but instead took them with her to Tinsley's apartment.
Enders found that the keys had not been left in the mailbox at approximately 3:30 a.m. and phoned Guili to get directions to Tinsley's apartment. After the call from Enders, Tinsley, who had stayed up talking to Guili in the living room, went to bed. Guili testified that she stayed in the living room with the light off, listening to the radio and waiting for Enders. Another student, Tommy Gray, was also asleep in one of the three adjoining bedrooms.
Guili testified that sometime after the phone call she heard a knock on the door. She claimed that since she was expecting Enders, she opened the door without looking through the peephole. After opening the door, Guili asserted that a man, wearing a stocking cap over his head, pushed his way into the apartment and closed the door behind him. The assailant did not lock the door.
Guili testified that the assailant held a knife and told her that he would kill her if she did not obey his orders. She stated he told her to sit on the floor while he held a knife against her throat and fondled her. At some point, the phone rang. Guili testified that the assailant told her not to answer it, but that she convinced him to permit her to do so because other people were staying in the apartment who would come into the front room if she did not answer. When she answered the phone, Enders was on the other end and told her he could not find the apartment. Guili testified that she tried, without alerting the assailant, to indicate to Enders that something was wrong.
Guili testified that after she hung up, the intruder pulled down his pants. However, he was soon interrupted by another phone call.
Again Guili was allowed to answer the phone and this time the caller was Eric Stiles, a friend of Enders. Before the call ended, Enders again spoke to Guili. Enders testified that he was disturbed by the conversations with Guili and told her that he was going to call the police. However, instead of calling the police, Enders called a female friend who knew where Guili was staying and arranged to be driven there. Guili testified that after the last call ended the assailant told her to lie on the floor, leaned over, pushed his pelvis towards her and penetrated her
Soon thereafter, Enders along with several of his friends arrived at the apartment complex. When they got to the apartment complex, Enders and his cousin, Jeff McEvoy, went to Tinsley's apartment while the others stayed in the car. Reaching the apartment, Enders turned the doorknob and walked in. Enders testified that as he entered the apartment he saw Gravley with his pants off lying on the floor with Guili. McEvoy testified that as he entered the apartment, he saw Gravley on his knees with his pants down but his briefs on. Enders began yelling at Gravley. According to Enders, he heard Gravley say, "its not my fault," before getting to his feet and racing out of the apartment. McEvoy and Enders followed. McEvoy testified that Gravley fell at the bottom of the stairs, got back up, and ran away. Enders and McEvoy did not pursue but went back to the apartment to check on Guili.
Enders testified that Guili told him that she had been raped, and that a pair of pantyhose that were lying on the apartment floor had belonged to the assailant. She also told Enders that the assailant had possessed a knife. Enders testified that he then found a knife on the living room floor near where the pantyhose had been lying.
McEvoy testified that soon after this, he left the apartment and saw Gravley peeking around the corner of a building. McEvoy chased Gravley and eventually caught him at the trash containers for the apartment complex. By this time, Tommy Gray, who had previously been sleeping in one of the bedrooms, was also present. After the police took Guili and Enders to the trash containers, Enders identified Gravley by sight and Guili identified him by sound.
Detective Gary Moyers testified that upon arriving at the apartment, Guili and Enders pointed out the pantyhose and steak knife that Guili said belonged to her assailant. Moyers further testified that on the morning of Gravley's arrest, he informed him of his Miranda rights and Gravley signed a rights waiver. Thereupon, he gave an oral statement to Moyers in which he claimed that he had never seen Guili before she identified him. Four days later, Moyers tried to interview Gravley a second time. Once again he advised Gravley of his right to remain silent. This time, Gravley declined to speak to Moyers or to sign a rights waiver. Later, a preliminary hearing was conducted in Knox County General Sessions Court, at which Gravley was present but did not testify. He also later attended a state probation revocation hearing, but did not testify.
On the night of the alleged assault, Moyers accompanied Guili to a hospital, where she was examined by a physician. There was no physical evidence of "bruises or cuts or anything of that nature." The doctor also observed "a tampon in place" with the string "evident," and blood in the tampon. The doctor stated that he had "understood" that the tampon in place during the examination was not the same tampon Guili was wearing at the time of the alleged incident. The doctor also stated that no emissions were found.
A technician with the Knoxville Police Department took custody of the knife and pantyhose. He also took samples of Gravley's head and pubic hair and sent them to the FBI along with a rape kit, which included Guili's hair samples, Gravley's underwear, and the pantyhose he had received from Detective Moyers. The FBI test results showed no evidence of blood in Gravley's genital area. An examination of the pantyhose revealed no hairs like Gravley's. The knife, which was described as a "slick, smooth object," did not bear Gravley's fingerprints.
On February 28, 1985, the Knox County Grand Jury returned an indictment charging At trial, Gravley testified, in contrast to his prior statement that he had never seen Guili before she identified him, that he and Guili had engaged in consensual sex acts, but not intercourse. Gravley claimed he had met Guili the previous evening in the parking lot at approximately 10:00 p.m. and that she had invited him to come up later and had willingly admitted him into the apartment. He claimed that he had not told Detective Moyers this initially because he was tired, scared and hung over.
Gravley with burglary and aggravated rape. Gravley was tried in Knox County Criminal Court. Prior to the trial's commencement, Gravley's counsel became ill and had to seek medical attention. This resulted in the trial being postponed for six days. The delay was accompanied by a scheduling conflict which precluded counsel's law partner from participating in the trial. As a result, Gravley's attorney was forced to try the case alone without anyone to assist her in keeping track of objections and court rulings. She asserted that she made trial notes herself but that these notes, upon examination after trial, proved useless
On November 19, 1985, the jury, after a two-day trial, found Gravley guilty of burglary and aggravated rape. Immediately after the trial, counsel entered the hospital for major surgery. She was in the hospital...
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