Grayson v. State

• Decision Date: 08 August 2013
• Docket Number: No. 2012–DR–00059–SCT.,2012–DR–00059–SCT.
• Citation: 118 So.3d 118
• Parties: Blayde GRAYSON a/k/a Blayde N. Grayson a/k/a Blayde Nathaniel Grayson a/k/a Blayde N. Amodeo v. STATE of Mississippi.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

118 So.3d 118

Blayde GRAYSON a/k/a Blayde N. Grayson a/k/a Blayde Nathaniel Grayson a/k/a Blayde N. Amodeo

v.STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2012–DR–00059–SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

April 18, 2013.

Rehearing Denied Aug. 8, 2013.

Office of Capital Post–Conviction Counsel by Glenn S. Swartzfager, attorneys for appellee.

Office of the Attorney General by Jason L. Davis, Cameron Benton, attorneys for appellee.

EN BANC.

LAMAR, Justice, for the Court:

¶ 1. Blayde Grayson was indicted for capital murder while in the commission of burglary with the intent to steal personal property. A George County jury found him guilty of capital murder and, in a separate sentencing proceeding, sentenced him to death. This Court affirmed Grayson's conviction and death sentence. Grayson v. State, 806 So.2d 241 (Miss.2001)( Grayson I ),cert. denied, Grayson v. Mississippi, 537 U.S. 973, 123 S.Ct. 466, 154 L.Ed.2d 329 (2002). This Court's mandate issued on February 14, 2002.

¶ 2. On February 14, 2003, Grayson filed his first petition seeking post-conviction collateral relief (PCR). We denied relief. Grayson v. State, 879 So.2d 1008 (Miss.2004)( Grayson II ),cert. denied, Grayson v. Mississippi, 543 U.S. 1155, 125 S.Ct. 1301, 161 L.Ed.2d 122 (2005).

¶ 3. Grayson has filed his “Motion for Leave to File Successor Petition for Post–Conviction Relief” and “Motion for Access.” The Attorney General has filed responses to the motions and Grayson has replied to the responses.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 4. A full recitation of the facts in this case is found in this Court's opinion on direct appeal. See Grayson I, 806 So.2d at 244–47. In summary, on the morning of May 5, 1996, the body of seventy-eight-year-old Minnie Smith was discovered by her son-in-law. Mrs. Smith had been brutally murdered in her own bed. She had been stabbed more than thirty times, suffered blunt-force trauma, and had wounds indicating that she had tried to protect herself from her murderer. After interviewing neighbors, police focused their attention on Blayde Grayson. At that time, Grayson was a fugitive from justice, having walked away from a restitution center in Jackson County several months earlier.

¶ 5. Police located Grayson in Florida. While in custody in Florida, Grayson first indicated that he wanted to talk to George County authorities. After Grayson signed a waiver-of-rights form, Sheriff George Miller of George County, Mississippi, began interviewing Grayson. After a few minutes, Grayson invoked his right to counsel.

¶ 6. Grayson was transported to George County. A few days later, he asked to speak with authorities, waived his rights, and gave a short, hand-written statement admitting that he was at the scene of the crime, but alleging that he did not kill Smith. Grayson alleged that his companion, Jason Kilpatrick, had killed Smith, and he asserted that he had nothing to do with the murder. Two days after that, Grayson waived his rights and gave another statement, this time giving much more detail, but still alleging that Kilpatrick had killed Smith. “At the conclusion of this interview, Grayson agreed to take a polygraph test. That test took place on Friday, May 24, in Jackson. After the polygraph examiner indicated that Grayson had failed the test and accused him of lying, Grayson admitted to killing Smith.” Grayson I, 806 So.2d at 246–47. Grayson signed a waiver-of-rights form and then explained the crime in detail. The statement also was videotaped. Grayson explained that he and Kilpatrick were almost out of drugs and they wanted to steal something to sell to get money for drugs. He broke into Smith's house to steal a shotgun that he knew she owned. He had known Smith his entire life. While he was in her house, she awoke and asked “who is there.” He “freaked out” and grabbed a knife from her kitchen. As he approached her bed, she stated “please don't.” After he killed her, he and Kilpatrick fled to Florida where they sold the shotgun. With help from Grayson, police were able to locate the murder weapon and a checkbook that was stolen from Smith's home.

¶ 7. A George County jury convicted Grayson of capital murder. In a separate sentencing proceeding, the jury sentenced him to death. On appeal to this Court, Grayson asserted the following issues:

I. The trial court erred in failing to grant the Appellant's motion to suppress statements given to law enforcement officers.

II. The trial court erred in denying the Defendant's motion for change of venue.

III. The trial court erred in allowing the introduction of photographs of the victim and of the crime scene into evidence.

IV. The trial court erred in failing to grant the Appellant's motion to declare Mississippi Code Section 97–3–19(e) unconstitutional or in the alternative to preclude the prosecution from relying on Mississippi Code Annotated Section 99–19–101(5)(d) as an aggravating circumstance of the Appellant's possible capital sentence trial.

V. The trial court erred in not granting the Appellant's motion for mistrial based on comments made by potential jurors during voir dire.

VI. The trial court erred in striking jurors Bridget Phillips and Bernard Goff without proper showing that the potential jurors could not follow the law in regard to the death penalty.

VII. The trial court erred in denying the Appellant's motion for funds for private investigator and jury consultant despite repeated requests by the Appellant.

Grayson I, 806 So.2d at 244. We found these issues to be without merit and affirmed. Id. at 245.

¶ 8. In February and May 2003, Grayson timely filed his first PCR petition and a supplemental PCR petition. Grayson raised the following claims:

1) The State of Mississippi violated Grayson's fundamental Sixth Amendment right to counsel by delaying the filing of a formal charge for the purpose of obtaining an un-counseled confession.

2) Petitioner's Eighth Amendment rights were violated by the imposition of a sentence of death based on jury instructions which were constitutionally defective in light of Tison v. Arizona.

3) Mississippi's death penalty statutes are unconstitutional as applied to the petitioner and as a result, his Eighth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution and the corresponding portions of the Mississippi Constitution were violated.

4) Petitioner was denied his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel within the meaning of Strickland v. Washington.

5) The sentence rendered against the petitioner is disproportionate and in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution and the corresponding portions of the Mississippi Constitution.

6) Petitioner was denied his rights guaranteed by the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution and Mississippi Law due to the cumulative effect of the errors at his capital trial.

7) Petitioner's grounds for ineffective assistance of counsel.

8) Sentencing jury verdict does not reflect that the aggravating factors were found beyond a reasonable doubt.

9) Pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 47–7–29, imposition of the death sentence is prohibited until such time as Grayson has completed the original sentences meted out for offenses committed before he was at large upon probation and prior to the sentence imposed in this case.

10) The aggravating factors elevating the charge to a capital offense were not included in Grayson's indictment and therefore his death penalty must be vacated.

11) The “avoiding or preventing a lawful arrest” aggravating factor was inappropriate in this case and it was fundamental error to present it to the sentencing jury for consideration for the imposition of a sentence of death.

12) The court erred in allowing the jury to consider pecuniary gain and burglary as aggravating circumstances.

We concluded “that no reversible error was committed in the trial of this case” and Grayson's petition was denied. Grayson II, 879 So.2d at 1023–24.

¶ 9. Grayson has now filed his “Motion for Leave to File Successor Petition for Post–Conviction Relief” and his “Motion for Access.” Grayson asserts that his motion is excepted from procedural bars and he raises the following claims:

A. Grayson's death sentence must be vacated, pursuant to the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, because the jury in sentencing was not instructed that it could consider any and all mitigating evidence beyond that specifically enumerated in the court's instructions.

B. Grayson's death sentence must be vacated, under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, because Grayson's jury was not adequately instructed that Grayson would be ineligible for parole if sentenced to life imprisonment.

C. Grayson's rights under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution were violated, in that he was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel at both the guilt-or-innocence and penalty stages of the trial and on direct appeal.

D. This successive petition is not barred because Grayson was denied the effective assistance of post-conviction counsel during his first attempt to obtain post-conviction relief.

E. Grayson seeks access to his experts for the purpose of evaluation, testing, and any other purpose reasonably necessary for the full litigation of Grayson's post-conviction claims.

ANALYSIS

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 10. In considering a successive motion seeking post-conviction collateral relief, this Court will

deny relief unless the claims are not procedurally barred and they make a substantial showing of the denial of a state or federal right. Miss.Code Ann. § 99–39–27 (Supp.2011). Absent an applicable exception, a successive motion for post-conviction relief is procedurally barred. Miss.Code Ann. § 99–39–[27(9) ] (Supp.2011); Rowland v. State, 42 So.3d 503, 507 (Miss.2010).

Havard v. State, 86 So.3d 896, 899 (Miss.2012) (quoting Knox v. State, 75 So.3d 1030, 1036 (Miss.201...