Hamilton v. Nix

• Decision Date: 31 December 1985
• Docket Number: No. 84-2089,84-2089
• Citation: 781 F.2d 619
• Parties: Reed Wayne HAMILTON, Appellant, v. Crispus NIX, Warden, and Attorney General of the State of Iowa, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 619

781 F.2d 619

Reed Wayne HAMILTON, Appellant, v. Crispus NIX, Warden, and Attorney General of the State of

Iowa, Appellees.

No. 84-2089.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted May 14, 1985.

Decided Dec. 31, 1985.

John C. Wellman, Des Moines, Iowa, for appellant.

Thomas D. McGrane, Asst. Atty. Gen., Des Moines, Iowa, for appellees.

Before LAY, Chief Judge, ARNOLD and BOWMAN, Circuit Judges.

LAY, Chief Judge.

Reed Hamilton, an Iowa prisoner, was convicted of first degree murder and voluntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting deaths of Nick Pappas, Jr., and Cathy Larson. The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed his convictions on Hamilton's direct appeal. State v. Hamilton, 335 N.W.2d 154 (Iowa 1983). Hamilton petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court ¹ alleging that his convictions were obtained in violation of his fifth and sixth amendment rights by the admission of certain evidence. He further complained that he was denied due process of law by certain statements made by the prosecution at trial and by his conviction for first degree murder based on felony murder. The district court denied Hamilton's petition. This appeal followed.

Nick Pappas, Jr., and Cathy Larson were found dead of gunshot wounds in their Des Moines home on the evening of January 25, 1978. There was substantial evidence that Pappas regularly sold large quantities of drugs. Pappas had been shot twice in the back of the head with a .38 caliber revolver; Larson, three times with the same weapon. Their bodies were discovered by Nick Pappas' father and sister sometime between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m.

Shortly after 6:00 p.m., Reed Hamilton appeared at the home of a childhood friend, soaking wet and shaking violently. Hamilton told his friend that he had gone out on the river after an argument with his girlfriend, Diane Nystrom, and had fallen through the ice. The friend gave Hamilton some dry clothes, and, while Hamilton changed, counted out $279.00 Hamilton had with him at Hamilton's request. Hamilton soon left his friend's house, and arrived at his mother Maxine Hamilton's home sometime after 6:30 p.m.

Hamilton entered his mother's house carrying a suitcase. Both Maxine Hamilton and Paul Lincoln, a man with whom Maxine was living at the time, were present when Hamilton arrived. Hamilton took the suitcase down into the basement of the house and came back upstairs empty handed. After Hamilton left to pick Diane Nystrom up from work, Lincoln looked into the suitcase and found two plastic bags inside. Lincoln stated at trial that the bags contained "some kind of tobacco" with a strange smell.

The next day, a postal carrier reported to the police that windows were being broken out of Nystrom and Hamilton's West Des Moines home. A patrolman went to investigate the incident, and found Hamilton sitting in a car in front of the house, dressed only in a bathrobe. Hamilton told the officer that he lived there and that some people had been trying to kill him. Hamilton said that he thought one of them was Nick Pappas' brother. After additional police officers arrived, a search of the house was conducted. No intruders were found, but a bag of marijuana and an empty handgun holster were discovered. Hamilton was then arrested for possession and taken to the West Des Moines police station.

Hamilton was later transferred to the Des Moines police station where, after being advised of his Miranda rights, he was questioned about his activities during the previous day. The Iowa Supreme Court determined that Hamilton initially made the following statements to the police:

[Hamilton] said he had gone to the victims' house between 3:00 and 3:30 p.m. on the day of the shooting and that Nick Pappas and Cathy Larson were there at the time. He said he purchased some marijuana from Pappas and left for home, where he and his fiancee, Diane Nystrum [sic], stayed until about 8:00 p.m. when they went shopping and to his mother's house before returning home. He stated that just prior to going to bed, Diane had seen a shadow outside the house and that he had gone upstairs to get his shotgun. He said he had sat up all night to protect the home with his shotgun. The officers then asked him if he had any guns besides the shotgun. Hamilton replied that he had a .38 caliber revolver and, when asked where it was, responded that it was "over to his mother's house."

Hamilton, 335 N.W.2d at 159. After Hamilton made these statements, all but one of the officers present left the interrogation room to prepare an application for a warrant to search Maxine Hamilton's home.

Hamilton then asked the officer who remained in the room to lock the door and confided that he "needed help." In response, the officer replied, "Tell us the truth and we will try to help you." The state judge who held the suppression hearing found this promise of leniency rendered the remainder of Hamilton's statement involuntary and inadmissible. ² As recounted by the Iowa Supreme Court, following the officer's promise of leniency:

[Hamilton] stated he had shot the victims and that he had taken approximately ten pounds of marijuana and one ounce of cocaine from the Pappas home; that he took the marijuana to his mother's home where he placed it in a suitcase and hid it in the basement, then he went to "a river" to dispose of the gun and, while walking on the ice, fell in.

Hamilton, 335 N.W.2d at 156. Hamilton then agreed to show the police where he had hidden the gun. It was decided, however, to wait until the next morning to act on this plan, because it was too dark to see.

Early the following morning, January 27, at approximately 5:00 a.m., Hamilton called his mother from jail. He asked that she remove the suitcase in the basement from her house. His mother told him that she knew he hadn't killed anyone, to which he replied, "oh yeah, but I did." Paul Lincoln was in the same room with Maxine when she received the call, and heard some of her side of the conversation. According to Lincoln, he and Maxine then went into the living room to talk. It is undisputed that Maxine later took the suitcase to the home of a family friend, Ann Morrison, and asked Morrison to keep it. Less clear is whether Paul Lincoln went with her. ³ The Iowa Supreme Court found, however, that "Lincoln's testimony also confirmed * * * that he and Maxine * * * took the suitcase to the home of Ann Morrison." Hamilton, 335 N.W.2d at 157.

The police arrived at Maxine Hamilton's home at 10:00 a.m. to execute the search warrant, prepared the night before, for locating marijuana and a .38 caliber gun. The search revealed neither the gun nor the marijuana. Maxine Hamilton initially denied that Reed had brought any marijuana into the house. Then one of the officers told her that the police knew Reed had carried ten pounds of marijuana into her house in a suitcase. Shortly thereafter, Maxine admitted, in response to direct questions, that Reed had brought a suitcase into the house and that she had removed it. She did not, however, divulge the location of the suitcase. The testimony is again conflicting, however, regarding what she may have said to the police about Hamilton's early morning telephone call. Maxine Hamilton testified that she lied to the police that morning, and specifically denied telling them anything about the phone call. There was some testimony, however, that she did relate the substance of the call to one officer. ⁴ In any case, all law enforcement personnel present testified that she was generally uncooperative.

In the meantime, Reed Hamilton had requested the assistance of an attorney who demanded that the police cease questioning Hamilton. Hamilton's attorney also sought and was granted a court order restraining the police from interrogating Hamilton further. The police subverted this order, however, by persuading Diane Nystrom to act as a conduit for their questions and to convince Reed to retrace the route he took following the killings. The officers told Nystrom that if she could induce Hamilton to cooperate, charges against him would be reduced and he would receive immediate psychiatric help. The officers also said they were afraid children would find the murder weapon if Hamilton did not recover it for them. Nystrom then agreed to do as the police asked. She spoke with Hamilton briefly, and then Nystrom and Hamilton got into a squad car with two police officers. They then travelled the path Hamilton followed the day of the killings, with the officers transmitting questions to Hamilton through Nystrom, and Hamilton in turn answering through her. ⁵ The officers, Nystrom and Hamilton eventually arrived at Maxine Hamilton's home. Reed Hamilton went to his mother and whispered to her that she should tell the police what she knew, and should retrieve the suitcase because the police were going to help him. Maxine Hamilton and Lincoln later recovered the suitcase and delivered it to the police. They both also gave complete statements, including an account by Maxine Hamilton of her telephone conversation with her son.

There were two trials in this case. ⁶ Hamilton's invalidly obtained confession and any direct reference to the trip retracing Hamilton's path were excluded at both trials. Neither Maxine Hamilton nor Paul Lincoln testified at the first trial, although both had been subpoenaed for the limited purpose of identifying and discussing the .38 gun. Both were adjudged in contempt of court. Maxine Hamilton was sentenced to three months in jail, Paul Lincoln to six months. Ann Morrison also did not testify, and the ten pounds of marijuana were not admitted into evidence.

At the second trial, Lincoln and Maxine Hamilton were both served a subpoena and did testify. Ann Morrison also testified, and the suitcase of marijuana was admitted into evidence. Maxine Hamilton testified that Reed Hamilton had borrowed a hand gun from her sometime before the shootings, and that he had...