Hooks v. State

• Decision Date: 29 August 2008
• Docket Number: CR-04-2220.
• Citation: 21 So.3d 772
• Parties: Joseph B. HOOKS v. STATE of Alabama.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

21 So.3d 772

Joseph B. HOOKS v. STATE of Alabama.

CR-04-2220.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

August 29, 2008.

Rehearing Denied December 19, 2008.

Certiorari Denied April 24, 2009.

Alabama Supreme Court 1080365.

Francis C. Lynch, Jr., Boston, Massachusetts; and David Dawson Schoen, Montgomery, for appellant.

Troy King, atty. gen., and Richard D. Anderson and Beth Jackson Hughes, asst. attys. gen., for appellee.

WELCH, Judge.

Joseph B. Hooks, currently an inmate on deathrow at Holman Correctional Facility, appeals the circuit court's denial of his petition for postconviction relief.

In 1985, Hooks was convicted of murdering Donald Bergquist and Hannelore Bergquist during the course of a robbery. The jury recommended, by a vote of 7 to 5, that Hooks be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The circuit court chose not to follow the jury's recommendation and sentenced Hooks to death. Hooks's conviction and death sentence were affirmed on direct appeal. See Hooks v. State, 534 So.2d 329 (Ala.Crim.App.1987), aff'd, 534 So.2d 371 (Ala.1988), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 1050, 109 S.Ct. 883, 102 L.Ed.2d 1005 (1989).

In August 1989, Hooks filed a postconviction petition, pursuant to Rule 20, Ala. R.Crim.P.Temp.,¹ attacking his conviction and sentence. Hooks filed three amended petitions in March 1996, April 1999, and March 2002. The circuit court held an evidentiary hearing in December 2002. On June 27, 2005, the court issued a 30-page order denying the petition. This appeal followed.

We stated the following facts surrounding the murders in our opinion on direct appeal:

"John Henry Roberts, an enforcement agent with the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, stated that at approximately 12:00 noon on November 16, 1984, he was looking for minors consuming alcohol in a wooded area off McInnis Road near Woodley Road in Montgomery. As he approached some abandoned houses on a dirt road, he noticed a man lying on the ground on the left side of the dirt road. Roberts got out of the car and realized the man was dead. He radioed the ABC Board's central office who alerted the police.

"Roberts waited for a patrol car out on McInnis Road and led them to the scene. Upon his return to the scene, Roberts noticed some women's shoes lying in the dirt road. The police then located the body of a woman approximately twenty-five yards from the other body. The woman was alive and making sounds.²

"Officer James Wicker made a video tape recording of the crime scene and of a 1977 Chevrolet automobile which was found in the Family Mart parking lot on South Boulevard in Montgomery. He testified that blood was found on the rear seat of the car. A woman's purse and portions of a necklace were found on the rear floorboard and dashboard of the car. Two letters were found on the front dashboard of the car.

". . . .

"Dr. Henry Santina performed the autopsy on Mr. Bergquist's body. His examination revealed the victim sustained two entrance gunshot wounds and one exit wound. There was an entrance wound to the right side of the chest and an exit wound to the left side of the back. There was also an entrance wound to the right side of the victim's chin. This wound was surrounded by stippling, which indicated a close range shot. The bullet from this gunshot severed the spinal column and was the cause of the victim's death.

"Dr. Thomas Gilchrist performed the autopsy on Mrs. Bergquist's body. His examination revealed the victim sustained several gunshot wounds. The cause of her death was a gunshot wound to the head.

". . . .

"Paul Seery testified that he was employed by Home Improvers on November 16, 1984. At approximately 7:15 a.m., the appellant picked up Seery at Home Improvers. The two drove to a job site in Prattville and began working. Around 9:15, the appellant told Seery he had to go to court and he left. He did not return until 1:00 p.m. Upon his return, the appellant told Seery that his court case had not come up yet and that he had to go back. He left again and returned at 3:30 to pick up Seery and drop him off at the company office. Seery stated that the appellant appeared normal each time he saw him that day.

"The next day, the appellant came by Seery's house and told Seery that he had lied about going to court the previous day. The appellant said he had family problems and had driven around all day drinking beer. He then told Seery that some people for whom he had been working had been killed and that he was a suspect. The appellant asked Seery to tell the police that he had been working with him all day on Friday. Seery agreed.

"After hearing about the Bergquists' shootings, Seery became suspicious of the appellant. When contacted by the police, Seery told them the truth about Friday's events.

". . . .

"Officer Richard Foster testified that he found a brown billfold containing business and credit cards belonging to Donald Bergquist in a dumpster located behind a building at 540 Clay Street on November 19, 1984, at 2:00 a.m. He stated that the address could have been that of Home Improvers. No money was found in the wallet.

". . . .

"William Landrum, a serologist with the Department of Forensic Sciences, testified that he examined several items of evidence which were turned over to him. The belt, given to the police by the appellant's wife, had bloodstains on it. Mrs. Bergquist's shoes and slacks were bloodstained. These stains, as well as the stains on the paper towels found in the appellant's yard, were Group O. Both victims' blood type was Group O. Forty-five percent of the population of the U.S. also has Group O blood type."

Hooks, 534 So.2d at 334-37. The evidence also showed that Hooks confessed to police that he shot and killed Donald and Hannelore Bergquist.

Standard of Review

This is an appeal from the denial of a postconviction petition that was initiated by Hooks. According to Rule 32.3, Ala. R.Crim.P. (formerly Rule 20.3, Ala.R.Crim. P.Temp.): "The petitioner shall have the burden of pleading and proving by a preponderance of the evidence the facts necessary to entitle the petitioner to relief."

"This Court does not apply a plain-error standard of review when reviewing a lower court's ruling on the denial of a Rule 32 petition attacking a death sentence. See Ex parte Dobyne, 805 So.2d 763 (Ala.2001), and Rule 45A, Ala. R.App.P. Moreover, all of the procedural bars contained in Rule 32 apply equally to all cases, even those involving the death penalty."

Brooks v. State, 929 So.2d 491, 495 (Ala. Crim.App.2005). "The standard of review this Court uses in evaluating the rulings made by the trial court is whether the trial court abused its discretion. See Elliott v. State, 601 So.2d 1118, 1119 (Ala.Crim.App. 1992)." Hunt v. State, 940 So.2d 1041, 1049 (Ala.Crim.App.2005).

"The burden of pleading under Rule 32.3 and Rule 32.6(b) is a heavy one. Conclusions unsupported by specific facts will not satisfy the requirements of Rule 32.3 and Rule 32.6(b). The full factual basis for the claim must be included in the petition itself. If, assuming every factual allegation in a Rule 32 petition to be true, a court cannot determine whether the petitioner is entitled to relief, the petitioner has not satisfied the burden of pleading under Rule 32.3 and Rule 32.6(b). See Bracknell v. State, 883 So.2d 724 (Ala.Crim.App.2003). To sufficiently plead an allegation of ineffective assistance of counsel, a Rule 32 petitioner not only must `identify the [specific] acts or omissions of counsel that are alleged not to have been the result of reasonable professional judgment,' Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 690, but also must plead specific facts indicating that he or she was prejudiced by the acts or omissions, i.e., facts indicating `that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different.' 466 U.S. at 694. A bare allegation that prejudice occurred without specific facts indicating how the petitioner was prejudiced is not sufficient."

Hyde v. State, 950 So.2d 344, 356 (Ala. Crim.App.2006).

Lastly,

"`The resolution of . . . factual issue[s] required the trial judge to weigh the credibility of the witnesses. His determination is entitled to great weight on appeal. . . . "When there is conflicting testimony as to a factual matter . . ., the question of the credibility of the witnesses is within the sound discretion of the trier of fact. His factual determinations are entitled to great weight and will not be disturbed unless clearly contrary to the evidence."'

"Calhoun v. State, 460 So.2d 268, 269-70 (Ala.Crim.App.1984) (quoting State v. Klar, 400 So.2d 610, 613 (La.1981))."

Brooks, 929 So.2d at 495-96.

I.

Hooks first argues that his due-process rights were violated by the circuit court's wholesale adoption of the State's proposed order denying postconviction relief. He argues that because the court made no independent findings of fact we should review his claims de novo — giving no deference to the lower court's findings.

As we stated in Hodges v. State, [Ms. CR-04-1226, March 23, 2007] ___ So.3d ___, ___ (Ala.Crim.App.2007):

"Alabama Courts have repeatedly upheld the circuit court's adoption of proposed orders drafted by the State in postconviction cases. For example, in Hyde v. State, 950 So.2d 344 (Ala.Crim. App.2006), we stated:

"`Hyde contends that the circuit court erred in adopting the State's proposed order. Specifically, he argues that there are numerous factual and legal errors in the order that indicate that the order does not represent the court's own independent judgment, but shows a wholesale adoption of the State's proposed order without consideration of his claims. However, this Court has repeatedly upheld the practice of adopting the State's proposed order when denying a Rule 32 petition for postconviction relief. See, e.g., Coral v. State, 900 So.2d 1274, 1288 (Ala.Crim.App.2004), overruled on...