Gray v. Pearson

• Decision Date: 27 April 2012
• Docket Number: Case No. 1:11 -cv-630 (AJT/TCB)
• Parties: RICKY JAVON GRAY, Petitioner, v. EDDIE L. PEARSON, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia

RICKY JAVON GRAY, Petitioner,

v.EDDIE L. PEARSON, Respondent.

Case No. 1:11 -cv-630 (AJT/TCB)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA Alexandria Division

April 27, 2012

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This matter is before the Court on the respondent's Motion to Dismiss the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus [Doc. No. 31]. Petitioner Ricky Javon Gray ("petitioner" or "Gray") was convicted in the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond for the murders of Bryan, Kathryn, Stella, and Ruby Harvey. Following a jury trial, Gray was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders of Bryan and Kathryn Harvey and was sentenced to death for the murders of Stella and Ruby Harvey. For the reasons stated herein, the Court will grant respondent's Motion and dismiss Gray's Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus.

I. Background

A. Guilt Phase of the Trial

On January 1, 2006, Kathryn and Bryan Harvey and their two daughters, Stella and Ruby, were murdered in the basement of their home in Richmond, Virginia. Gray v. Commonwealth, 274 Va. 290, 295 (2007) ("Gray I").¹ Firefighters discovered the bodies of the family when they responded to a call that the home was burning. Id. Near thebodies the police found two claw hammers, two broken wine bottles, a knife handle, and a separate knife blade. Id. at 295-96. As summarized in state court proceedings, autopsies of the bodies revealed the following:

Bryan had been cut eight times in his neck and underneath his chin, and those wounds, although "very painful" were not immediately fatal. His mouth had been gagged and taped. Six lacerations were made to the left side and back of Bryan's skull, each caused by blows from a hammer. He experienced severe third degree burns to his skin. Bryan died from the wounds to his skull.

Kathryn had been cut three times in her neck and chest, once in her back, and those wounds caused bleeding and pain but were not fatal. Multiple lacerations were made to Kathryn's skull as a result of blows from a hammer. The hammer blows caused a fracture to the plate above Kathryn's eyes, resulting in bleeding behind her eyes. Kathryn died from the blunt force injuries to her head.

Ruby's throat had been sliced through to her trachea, a wound that was not fatal but obstructed her breathing. Her head was also fractured and cut, causing brain tissue to exude from her skull. She had also been stabbed in the back with enough force that the knife had passed through her ribs and into her lungs. Ruby died from the blunt force injuries to her head and the stab injury to her lungs.

Stella's neck had been cut six times, with the stab wounds having penetrated her trachea and esophagus. Stella's head was also bludgeoned by a hammer, causing brain tissue to exude from her skull. She died from a combination of smoke inhalation, carbon monoxide poisoning and blunt force injury to her head.

Id. at 296. At the time of their murders, Stella was nine years old and Ruby was four years old. Id. at 298.

Responding to a tip received later in the week of the murders, members of the Philadelphia Police Department, working with the Richmond Police Department, located Gray in Philadelphia and arrested him. Id. at 298. After Gray learned that his accomplice, Ray Dandridge, had made a statement to the police, Gray asked Philadelphia police if he could "tell [his] side of the story." Id.; J.A. 990-91. In a signed confession,Gray described how he and Dandridge entered the Harvey's home and killed the Harveys. Gray I, 274 Va. at 298.

At trial, Gray's confession and other evidence established that on the morning of January 1, 2006, Gray, Dandridge, and another accomplice, Ashley Baskerville, were looking for a house to rob. Id. at 296. They entered the Harvey's home and forced Bryan, Kathryn, and Ruby into the basement. Id. at 296-97. While they were in the basement, a family friend returned Stella to the home and "[h]earing the commotion, Kathryn explained to Gray that her daughter had returned from a slumber party, so Gray permitted Kathryn to go upstairs to bring her daughter downstairs to the basement." Id. Kathryn did so without telling the family friend what was happening in the basement. Id.

Gray bound the Harveys' hands and feet and placed packing tape over their mouths. Id. Gray and Dandridge began looking for and collecting items in the home that they wanted to steal. Id. Gray then took a razor knife and cut Kathryn's throat and the girls' throats. In his confession, he was unsure if he or Dandridge had cut Bryan's throat, but was clear that he ultimately killed Bryan, stating "I think [Dandridge] did [Bryan], cut him. But I'm not sure. But it doesn't matter if [Dandridge] did or not cause [Bryan] was still alive after, until I hit him with the hammer." Id. at 297 n.5; J.A. 1265. In his confession, Gray also stated:

It was a real nasty scene. How am I supposed to explain something like what happened? I started cutting their throats and they kept getting up and they were scaring me. I remember seeing the hammer and picking it up, and then . . . I was just hitting them all with the hammer. All I know is nobody was moving when I left out there.

Gray I, 274 Va. at 298 (internal modifications omitted). Gray also admitted that Dandridge spent most of the time looking around the home for things to steal and that he was the only one who used the hammers to attack the Harveys. Id.

At the conclusion of the guilt phase of the trial, the jury convicted Gray of capital murder of Bryan Harvey in the commission of robbery or attempted robbery under Va. Code § 18.2-31(4); capital murder of Bryan Harvey, Kathryn Harvey, Stella Harvey, and Ruby Harvey as part of the same transaction under Virginia Code § 18.2-31(7); capital murder of Bryan Harvey, Kathryn Harvey, Stella Harvey, and Ruby Harvey within a three-year period under Virginia Code § 18.2-31(8); capital murder of four-year-old Ruby Harvey while Gray was twenty-one years of age or older under Virginia Code 18.2-31(12); and capital murder of nine-year-old Stella Harvey while Gray was twenty-one years of age or older under Virginia Code § 18.2-31(12). Id. at 294.

B. Penalty Phase of the Trial

During the penalty phase before the jury, the government introduced evidence of several other murders that Gray and Dandridge committed together, as well as a near-fatal assault. Specifically, the government introduced Gray's confession to murdering his wife Treva Gray, with Dandridge's help, by bludgeoning her to death with a lead pipe in November, 2005, approximately two months before the Harvey killings. Id. at 299; J.A. 1201-02. The jury also heard Gray's confession to murdering his accomplice, Ashley Baskerville, and Baskerville's mother, Mary Tucker, and stepfather, Percyell Tucker, in their home in Richmond, on January 6, 2006, less than a week after the Harvey murders. J.A. 1222-24; 1365. As to the Baskerville murders, the jury heard testimony from a medical examiner that Percyell Tucker had a sock stuffed in his mouth, taped shut, with his head covered with Saran Wrap and that he struggled for several minutes before he died from suffocation. Gray I, 274 Va. at 299. Mary Tucker was gagged, had duct tape placed over her eyes, was cut on her neck and chest four times, and struggled for several minutes before she died from suffocation. Id. Ashley Baskerville had a plastic shopping bag over her head, which was taped to her neck with duct tape, and had a sock stuffed inher mouth with duct tape wrapped around her head. Id. She also struggled for several minutes before she died from suffocation. Id.

The government also introduced Gray's confession that he and Dandridge assaulted a man, Ryan Carey, in Arlington, Virginia on December 31, 2005, the night before the Harvey murders. After robbing Carey, they decided to kill him and stabbed him repeatedly, to the point that their two knives broke off inside of Carey's body. Id. at 300; J.A. 1419-21. Carey survived after two months in the hospital, though he lost the use of his right arm and has permanent scars throughout his body. J.A. 1436-37. Carey testified about the terror he had experienced and his father described how his son is "not the same boy." J.A. 1424-38. Also, Bryan Harvey's older brother and Kathryn Harvey's older brother each testified about his relationship with his murdered sibling and the grief and impact that the murders had on the extended families. Gray I, 274 Va. at 300. The government also introduced Gray's convictions for robbery in 1996, distribution of crack cocaine in 2000, and possession of cocaine in 2002. Id. at 299.

Gray's counsel offered mitigation evidence. Gray's mother, Barbara Moten, testified to Gray's abusive childhood. Id. at 300. She testified that his father, Ellsworth, spanked him with a "horse strap" and otherwise beat him when the school reported Gray had misbehaved, when he wet the bed, and when Gray's siblings blamed him for things that happened around the house. Id. When Gray's mother had to move because of her job with the Army, Gray, then age nine, stayed with Ellsworth, who became a cocaine addict while Gray's mother was gone. Id; J.A. 1506-07. Ellsworth's other son and Gray's half-brother, Fitzgerald, sexually abused Gray during this time period. Gray I, 274 Va. at 301. Gray's sister, Ava, testified about "repeated instances of sexual abuse upon her and Gray by Fitzgerald," with Gray "being victimized by Fitzgerald when he was only four years old." Id. Ava described the molestations as "a regular thing" over the course of sevenyears. Id. Ava also testified that Gray turned to using drugs, specifically, marijuana, cocaine, and PCP, when he was just thirteen years old. Id.

Gray also presented the testimony of Dr. David Lisak, a psychologist and expert on the relationship between childhood abuse and later violent behavior. Id. Dr. Lisak opined generally, via video deposition, on the effects of early childhood abuse, and although he did not personally examine Gray, Dr....