Hill v. Hall
| Decision Date | 07 October 2019 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 3:19-cv-00452 |
| Parties | JAMARIUS HILL, Petitioner, v. SHERIFF DARON HALL, Davidson County Sheriff's Office, and HERBERT H. SLATERY, III, Tennessee Attorney General and Reporter, Respondents. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Tennessee |
MEMORANDUM
Before the court is Jamarius Hill's Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 (Doc. No. 1), challenging the constitutionality of Hill's continued pretrial detention at the Davidson County Correctional Development Center. For the reasons set forth herein, the court will deny the petition.
Also before the court is the Attorney General's request to be added as a respondent in this case under Rule 2 of the Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases in United States District Courts. The law is clear that Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall, as "the person having custody over [the petitioner]," 28 U.S.C. § 2242, is the appropriate respondent in this case. See also 28 U.S.C. § 2243; Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 434-35 (2004). However, having been granted leave to do so (Doc. No. 16), the State Attorney General's Office filed the Answer, presenting the State's position on the bail issue raised by the petitioner. In furtherance of the ends of justice, see Rule 2, Advisory Notes, that Attorney General's request will be granted, and the Clerk will be directed to add the Attorney General as a respondent.
On October 8, 2017, 16-year-old Debrianah Begley was shot and killed. On December 12, 2017, when he was also 16 years old, petitioner Jamarius Hill was arrested and charged with her murder and, in light of his youth, held in the Juvenile Detention Center. He was released a few days after his arrest, for lack of probable cause. (Doc. No. 1-2, at 5-6.)
Following a hearing conducted in the Juvenile Court on May 30, 2018, on the State's Motion to Transfer Hill for trial as an adult, the Juvenile Court found probable cause for arrest and put Hill back in detention. Two months later, the Juvenile Court entered an Order transferring Hill's case to the Criminal Court for Davidson County, Tennessee for trial and setting a $150,000 secured bond as a condition of his release. (Id. at 6.) Hill remained in custody at the Juvenile Detention Center until he turned 18 years old on December 21, 2018. Shortly thereafter, he was moved to the Davidson County Correctional Development Center, a jail facility operated by the Davidson County Sheriff's Office.
Meanwhile, on October 22, 2018, a Grand Jury had charged Hill and co-defendant Antonio Donte Jenkins with two counts of first-degree murder (premeditated and felony), in violation of Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-202, and one count of reckless endangerment, in violation of Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-103. (Doc. No. 14-1.) A separate, previous indictment charged two other adult individuals, Tomaz Kerley and Mohamed Miray, with first-degree murder of the same victim. (See Doc. No. 1-2, at 6 (referencing Case No. 2017-D-2868).) Of these individuals, Jenkins and Kerley, whose bail amounts were set at $150,000 and $200,000, respectively, were able to meet bail. (See Doc. No. 1-3, at 25-28.) They were released on bail subject to house arrest, GPS monitoring, and other conditions. (See Doc. No. 1-4, at 23, 24; Doc. No. 3, at 8.) Although Miray's bail was reduced from $500,000 to $75,000, he was not able to make bail. (See Doc. No. 1-4, at 25; Doc. No. 1-3, at 28.)
Counsel was appointed to represent Hill on November 15, 2018, after he had been in pretrial detention for over five months. Counsel promptly filed a Motion to Modify Conditions of Pretrial Release. (Doc. No. 1-2.) Counsel argued that the Juvenile Court had improperly set bail at $150,000 without any consideration of Hill's ability to pay or the factors relevant to his likelihood to appear in court if released pending trial. Counsel argued that the detention violated Hill's statutory and constitutional right to bail, as it amounted to, and operated as, a detention order, without the court's having made the findings required for a valid detention order. The motion sought the removal of the financial requirement and Hill's release on his own recognizance or on an unsecured bond with such non-financial conditions of release as the court found necessary to secure his appearance in court and to mitigate any risk of danger to the community.
The Davidson County Criminal Court conducted a hearing on the motion on December 6, 2018. At the hearing, Hill's aunt, Latrice Hill, testified that the petitioner had lived with her off and on over the years, as his own mother was struggling with addiction, and Latrice Hill was a family member who was willing to take care of him. (Doc. No. 1-3, at 8.1) She testified that Jamarius's father was incarcerated and that, if the court decided to release Jamarius pending trial and to set conditions, he could come to live with her. (Id. at 9.) She also testified that he would be required to work and go to school and that she never allowed firearms in her home. (Id. at 10-12.) She also testified that the bail set in the case, $150,000, was outside of her financial ability and that neither Jamarius nor any of his other family members had the money or assets that would allow them to meet that bail amount. (Id. at 13-14.) She testified specifically that she would be willing to have Jamarius live at her home with a GPS monitoring device on his leg andwould do whatever else was required to help him abide by any conditions set by the court. (Id. at 15-16.) She also testified that Jamarius had done well when staying with her in the past. (Id. at 16.)
Officer Michael Craig, Director of Safety and Security for the Davidson County Juvenile Court, testified for the State. He testified that on April 9, 2018, following the probable-cause hearing in that court for both Jamarius Hill and co-defendant Jenkins, there was an "altercation" involving Hill, Jenkins, their family members, and the victim's mother. (Id. at 30.) Craig testified that this confrontation, which he described as a "tangle," consisted of the various family members "cussing and being loud and causing a disturbance out in front of the courthouse," which he was called upon to break up. (Id. at 32-33.) There was no testimony that Jamarius Hill, personally, was cussing or behaving inappropriately.
Officer Craig also testified regarding an incident that occurred at the May 30, 2018 hearing, at which the juvenile court ruled that Hill would be taken back into custody. The witness saw that Hill was surprised and upset about being taken into custody; he also overheard him ask his attorney why she had not warned him that that was a possibility. (Id. at 38-39.) Hill was allowed to make a telephone call from the courtroom. After another officer grabbed Hill by the arm, a struggle ensued. The result of it was that Hill (Id. at 34.)
There was no evidence that Hill failed to appear in court at any time between his initial arrest in December 2017 and the hearing on May 30, 2018.
The Criminal Court for Davidson County issued a written order on January 28, 2019, denying the Motion to Modify Conditions of Pretrial Release. (Doc. No. 1-4.) The order summarizes the evidence presented at the hearing, including Latrice Hill's testimony that she could not post bail of $150,000, that the defendant had no assets or even a driver's license, and that none of his other family members had the resources to post bail. (Id. at 3.) The court also considered, over Hill's objections, the petitioner's redacted juvenile record and a recording of the transfer hearing in Juvenile Court.2
According to the Order, there was testimony at the transfer hearing from several witnesses concerning the evidence underlying the criminal charges. In addition, Hill's probation officer testified that the petitioner had been placed on probation after being adjudicated delinquent for aggravated robbery, criminal trespass, failure to appear, possession of a handgun, evading arrest, and theft of property. He was ordered to stay away from Metropolitan Development and Housing Authority ("MDHA") property, which included the James Cayce Homes, where the shooting death occurred. After being placed on probation, Hill had been arrested on charges of assault and criminal trespass for being on MDHA property. While on probation, he was involved with the Gang Resistance and Intervention Program ("GRIP"), the gang and community service work portions of which he successfully completed, as well as the gun safety class. In order to be referred to GRIP, an individual must have a confirmed or suspected gang affiliation. At the time of the transfer hearing, Hill was not enrolled in school or employed. The probation officer also testified that Hill had communicated with her and had been available, respectful, and cooperative while being supervised by the probation officer.
Based on the evidence before it, the Criminal Court declined to modify the conditions. The only condition of release provided by the Order was that Hill pay a secured financial bail of $150,000, which was beyond his financial means. In conducting its analysis of the motion to modify conditions, the court recognized that both the United States and Tennessee Constitutions provide guarantees of equal protection of the laws and, more specifically, that "the Court mustapply strict scrutiny" to the issue of pretrial incarceration (Doc. No. 1-4,...
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