Hinton v. State (Ex parte Hinton)

• Decision Date: 09 November 2012
• Docket Number: 1110129.
• Citation: 172 So.3d 348
• Parties: Ex parte Anthony Ray HINTON. (In re Anthony Ray Hinton v. State of Alabama).
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

172 So.3d 348

Ex parte Anthony Ray HINTON.

(In re Anthony Ray Hinton

v.State of Alabama).

1110129.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

Nov. 9, 2012.

Bryan A. Stevenson, Charlotte R. Morrison, and Aaryn M. Urell of Equal Justice Initiative, Montgomery, for petitioner.

Luther Strange, atty. gen., and John C. Neiman, Jr., and Jess R. Nix, deputy attys. gen., for respondent.

Opinion

PARKER, Justice.

Anthony Ray Hinton petitioned the Jefferson Circuit Court (“the circuit court”) for relief under Rule 32, Ala. R.Crim. P., arguing that his trial counsel had provided ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to provide a qualified expert in his defense at his capital-murder trial. The circuit court denied Hinton's Rule 32 petition on the basis that Andrew Payne, the expert retained by defense counsel, was qualified to testify as a firearms-identification expert at Hinton's trial. Hinton appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeals; the Court of Criminal Appeals, after remanding twice for the circuit court to address the issue, affirmed the circuit court's denial of Hinton's petition.

Hinton v. Alabama, 172 So.3d 338, 340 (Ala.Crim.App.2006) (opinion on return to second remand). Hinton then petitioned this Court for a writ of certiorari to review the Court of Criminal Appeals' decision. We granted certiorari review to determine whether the Court of Criminal Appeals applied the correct standard of review in affirming the circuit court's denial of Hinton's Rule 32 petition.

In its opinion on return to second remand, the Court of Criminal Appeals summarized the relevant procedural history and facts in this case:

“In 1986, Anthony Ray Hinton was convicted of two counts of murder made capital because the murders were committed during the course of a robbery. By a vote of 10–2, the jury recommended that Hinton be sentenced to death, and the trial court accepted the jury's recommendation and sentenced Hinton to death. Both this Court and the Alabama Supreme Court affirmed Hinton's convictions and death sentence, Hinton v. State, 548 So.2d 547 (Ala.Crim.App.1988), aff'd, 548 So.2d 562 (Ala.1989), and the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari review. Hinton v. Alabama, 493 U.S. 969, 110 S.Ct. 419, 107 L.Ed.2d 383 (1989). A thorough statement of the facts is set out in this Court's opinion affirming Hinton's convictions and sentence.

“Hinton subsequently filed a timely petition for postconviction relief pursuant Rule 32, Ala. R.Crim. P., challenging his convictions and sentence of death. After conducting an evidentiary hearing, the circuit court denied Hinton's petition in a written order. This Court affirmed that denial on appeal. Hinton v. State, 172 So.3d 249 (Ala.Crim.App.2006).

“The Alabama Supreme Court granted certiorari review as to one issue: Whether Hinton's trial counsel was ineffective for not procuring a qualified firearms-identification expert to testify in Hinton's defense. The Court held that it was premature to address the issue because no specific finding of fact had been made by the circuit court, as required by Rule 32.9, Ala. R.Crim. P., as to whether Andrew Payne, whom trial counsel had procured in Hinton's defense, was, in fact, qualified as an expert in firearms identification. Ex parte Hinton, 172 So.3d 332 (Ala.2008). The Court quoted then Judge Shaw's ¹ dissent to this Court's opinion affirming the circuit court's denial of Hinton's Rule 32 petition, in pertinent part, as follows:

“ ‘ “After carefully reviewing the briefs and after examining both the record on direct appeal and the Rule 32 record, I am satisfied that there is only one issue that has been properly raised and that merits this Court's intervention—whether, based on the standard set out in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984), Hinton's trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by retaining and proceeding to trial with an unqualified firearms witness.

“ ‘ “....

“ ‘ “... I feel that it is premature to reverse the circuit court's judgment because it does not appear to me, after examining the record on direct appeal and the Rule 32 record, that a specific finding as to whether Andrew Payne was a qualified firearms and toolmarks expert has ever been made.... Payne testified that he was a civil engineer with a military background primarily in heavy weapons and ordnance and that he had had limited experience during his career in toolmarks examination of handguns. To say that Payne was soundly discredited at trial on cross-examination by the prosecutor would be an understatement. However, prosecutors successfully challenge the credibility of even qualified expert defense witnesses in many cases and for many reasons. Therefore, to me it is not dispositive that the prosecutor successfully challenged Payne's credibility before the jury. Rather, the dispositive issue is whether Payne was a qualified firearms and toolmarks expert.

“ ‘ “... [T]he trial court never specifically found Payne to be qualified to testify about toolmarks. Likewise, the record of the Rule 32 proceedings also reflects that the circuit court made no specific findings on this question....

“ ‘ “....

“ ‘ “... The circuit court did not address directly the issue whether Payne was qualified to be testifying in the first place. Additionally, although the circuit court noted in passing that Payne had ‘been qualified as an expert ballistics witness for several criminal and civil cases in Alabama,’ that statement does not necessarily reflect a finding that Payne was qualified to testify as a toolmarks expert in this case....

“ ‘ “....

“ ‘ “If Payne was in fact a qualified firearms and toolmarks expert, even if his qualifications did not necessarily match up with those possessed by the State's experts, then I would affirm the circuit court's judgment denying Rule 32 relief. Sorting out conflicting testimony from qualified experts presented at trial is solely within the province of the jury. Rule 32 is not a mechanism by which those convicted of criminal offenses may argue many years after trial that they now have found better expert witnesses that a newly selected jury should hear. On the other hand, if Payne was not qualified to testify authoritatively as a firearms and toolmarks expert, then, based on the Strickland v. Washington standard, I would have no choice but to reverse the circuit court's judgment denying Rule 32 relief on the ground that trial counsel had rendered ineffective assistance to Hinton. It goes without saying that, with knowledge that sufficient funds were available to have a qualified firearms and toolmarks expert, no reasonable criminal defense lawyer would seek out and hire an unqualified firearms witness. Such a lawyer would be charged with the knowledge that in a situation where that witness's testimony was crucial to the pivotal issue in the case, the witness would be subjected to a withering cross-examination that could ultimately result in the complete impeachment of his or her credibility. In addition, based on the evidence presented at trial, if the testimony or the only physical evidence that connected Hinton to the capital murders was, in fact, presented by a witness who was not competent to render an opinion, then it was useless to him in rebutting the opinions of the State's experts, thereby resulting in prejudice under the Strickland v. Washington standard.” ’

“Ex parte Hinton, 172 So.3d at 335–36 (quoting Hinton v. State, 172 So.3d 249, 328–31 (Ala.Crim.App.2006) (Shaw, J., dissenting) (footnote omitted)). The Supreme Court then reversed this Court's judgment and remanded the case for this Court to remand the case ‘for the trial court to enter an order pursuant to Rule 32.9, Ala. R.Crim. P., making specific findings as to whether Andrew Payne was indeed qualified and competent to testify as a firearms-identification expert based on his knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education.’ Ex parte Hinton, 172 So.3d at 337.

“On December 19, 2008, this Court remanded this case to the circuit court for proceedings consistent with the Alabama Supreme Court's opinion. Hinton v. State, 172 So.3d 338 (Ala.Crim.App.2008) (opinion after remand from the Alabama Supreme Court). The circuit court then conducted a hearing and issued a written order purporting to comply with the Supreme Court's opinion and submitted its return to remand. This Court permitted the parties to file briefs on return to remand. After carefully examining the parties' briefs, the proceedings on remand, and the circuit court's order on remand, this Court concluded that the circuit court had failed to comply with the Alabama Supreme Court's opinion. Instead of ‘making specific findings as to whether Andrew Payne was indeed qualified and competent to testify as a firearms-identification expert based on his knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education,’ Ex parte Hinton, 172 So.3d at 337, the circuit court appeared to disagree with the Supreme Court's conclusion that no finding had been made regarding whether Payne was qualified as an expert in firearms identification and issued a written order quoting various portions of the transcript from Hinton's trial and the transcript from the evidentiary hearing on Hinton's Rule 32 petition and concluding that the original trial judge who had presided over Hinton's trial and the initial Rule 32 proceedings had, indeed, found Payne to be a qualified expert, albeit implicitly.² The circuit court made no independent findings of fact regarding whether Payne was qualified as an expert in firearms identification.

“Thereafter, this Court remanded this case a second time by order for the circuit court to comply with the Supreme Court's opinion and to make specific findings as to whether Payne was qualified to testify as a firearms-identification expert. On second remand, the circuit court complied with the Supreme Court's opinion and issued a written order finding that Payne was, in fact, a qualified expert in firearms identification and submitted its return to

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