Howard v. State

• Decision Date: 27 August 2020
• Docket Number: NO. 2018-CA-01586-SCT,2018-CA-01586-SCT
• Citation: 300 So.3d 1011
• Parties: Eddie Lee HOWARD, Jr. v. STATE of Mississippi
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

300 So.3d 1011

Eddie Lee HOWARD, Jr.

v.STATE of Mississippi

NO. 2018-CA-01586-SCT

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

August 27, 2020

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: WILLIAM TUCKER CARRINGTON

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: ASHLEY LAUREN SULSER LADONNA C. HOLLAND LYNN FITCH CANDICE LEIGH RUCKER

EN BANC.

ISHEE, JUSTICE, FOR THE COURT:

¶1. Eddie Howard was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of eighty-four-year-old Georgia Kemp. Howard was tied to the crime by Dr. Michael West, who identified Howard as the source of bite marks on Kemp's body. At trial, Dr. West testified that he was a member of the American Board of Forensic Odontology (ABFO) and that he had followed its guidelines in rendering his opinion. But since Howard's trial, the ABFO has revised those guidelines to prohibit such testimony, and this reflects a new scientific understanding that an individual perpetrator cannot be reliably identified through bite-mark comparison. This, along with new DNA testing and the paucity of other evidence linking Howard to the murder, requires the Court to conclude that Howard is entitled to a new trial. We reverse the trial court's denial of postconviction relief and vacate Howard's conviction and sentence.

FACTS

¶2. On the evening of February 2, 1992, one of Kemp's neighbors noticed smoke coming from her home. Howard v. State , 853 So. 2d 781, 784 (Miss. 2003). Firefighters were called to the scene and found a small, smoldering fire in Kemp's living room. Id. They then found Kemp's body on her bedroom floor. Id. The firefighters confirmed that Kemp was deceased and noticed that her legs were bloody and that she was partially exposed. Id. They further noticed a bloody knife on the bed and a telephone with its line cut. Id.

¶3. An autopsy was performed by Dr. Steven Hayne on February 3, 1992. The autopsy concluded Kemp had been beaten, strangled, stabbed, and raped. Id. at 785. Specifically, bruises and scrapes were found on Kemp's face, head, and neck, and multiple bruises were found on her left shin. Id. Injuries consistent with forced vaginal intercourse were noted to both sides of her vaginal vault, and there were also injuries consistent with manual strangulation. Id. The cause of Kemp's death was two stab wounds to the left side of her chest that caused severe internal bleeding. Id.

¶4. Although the autopsy report did not note any bite marks, Dr. Hayne requested an additional study of Kemp's body on February 6, 1992, because, according to Dr. Hayne, "[t]here was some question that ... there could be injuries inflicted by teeth." As a result, Kemp's body was exhumed. Id. Howard agreed to have dental impressions taken, which showed that Howard had a removable partial denture replacing his upper four front teeth. Id. at 784-85.

¶5. On February 7, 1992, Dr. Michael West, a forensic odontologist, examined Kemp's body and, using an ultraviolet light, determined there were otherwise invisible marks on Kemp's right breast, the right side of her neck, and her right arm. Id. Dr. West found these marks to be human bite marks, and he used molds of Howard's teeth to perform a "[w]ound duplication test with ink" or direct comparison between the bite mark and Howard's teeth. Dr. West found that the marks on Kemp's neck and arm were "consistent with" Howard's teeth. He further opined (at the time) that the bite mark on Kemp's right breast was "indeed and without doubt inflicted by ... Howard."

¶6. Howard was arrested on February 8, 1992. Id. Howard had lived two blocks away from Kemp. On February 13, 1992, Howard advised Detective David Turner that he "need[ed] to see [Turner] as soon as possible ... in relation to [his] case." Id. When Turner met with Howard, Howard stated that "the case was solved." Id. Howard then stated he "had a temper and that's why this happened." Id.

¶7. Howard was indicted on the charge of capital murder with the underlying felony of rape. Id. Howard, who represented himself at trial, was convicted in 1994 and sentenced to death. Id. In 1997, Howard's conviction and sentence were reversed and remanded for a new trial. Howard v. State , 701 So. 2d 274 (Miss. 1997).

¶8. Howard's second trial began on May 22, 2000. Howard , 853 So. 2d at 785. At trial, Dr. West testified that the bite marks on Kemp's neck and arm were "consistent with" Howard's teeth. Regarding the bite mark on Kemp's right breast, Dr. West found that it was an "identical" match to Howard's dental impressions and testified to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that Howard had inflicted that bite mark, although he also averred that he had "no doubt" Howard had left the mark. Howard was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. Id. at 786.

¶9. On appeal, Howard raised thirteen assignments of error. Id. at 786-87. This Court found no reversible error and affirmed Howard's conviction and death sentence. Id. at 799. The United States Supreme Court denied Howard's petition for writ of certiorari. Howard v. Mississippi , 540 U.S. 1197, 124 S. Ct. 1455, 158 L. Ed. 2d 113 (2004).

¶10. In 2003, the Mississippi Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel was appointed to represent Howard in his postconviction collateral-relief proceedings.

Howard v. State , 945 So. 2d 326, 335 (Miss. 2006). Howard later filed his first petition for postconviction relief. Id. The petition included "four issues in which Howard attack[ed] the bite mark evidence used against him at trial and Dr. West's expert opinion." Id. at 348. This Court found no meritorious claims and denied the petition for postconviciton relief. Id. at 332, 371. Specifically, the Court stated, "Howard asserts that his conviction and sentence are constitutionally and procedurally flawed and should be vacated. We find the issues raised by Howard are either procedurally barred and/or without merit." Id. at 371.

¶11. On December 2, 2010, this Court granted Howard's request for postconviction DNA testing. Howard v. State , 49 So. 3d 79, 80 (Miss. 2010). All other issues raised by Howard, including his claims of newly discovered evidence, were dismissed without prejudice to be refiled with the DNA test results. Id.

¶12. In August 2015, this Court granted Howard leave to file his petition for postconviction collateral relief in the trial court and ordered the trial court to conduct an evidentiary hearing on the following issue:

Whether the newly discovered evidence presented in Howard's Motion to Vacate Conviction, including the results of his post-conviction DNA testing, is of such a nature that it "will probably produce a different result or induce a different verdict[ ] if a new trial is granted." Crawford v. State , 867 So. 2d 196, 204 (Miss. 2003) (citing Meeks v. State , 781 So. 2d 109, 112 (Miss. 2001) ).

Howard v. State , 171 So. 3d 495 (Miss. 2015). As a result, Howard filed a motion to vacate conviction and a supplemental memorandum in support of postconviction relief in the trial court. In his motion, Howard asserted that "[o]ver the past decade, the field of bite-mark identification has devolved from a favored forensic science ... to a craft of forensic charlatanism. It has proved to be completely unreliable, inadmissible, and little more than speculation." "In light of this newly discovered information," Howard requested that the trial court vacate his conviction.

¶13. At the evidentiary hearing, Howard also offered new evidence regarding the forensic and DNA testing on the physical evidence left at the scene of the crime. The nightgown Kemp was wearing at the time of her death tested negative for semen. While human DNA was detected on the inside of the nightgown, male DNA was not. As with the nightgown, no semen or male DNA were detected on either of Kemp's stockings. Kemp's bedroom slippers were tested for the presence of blood. No blood was detected on the left slipper. The right slipper tested presumptively positive for blood, but no male DNA was detected. Both the bottom and top bedsheets were tested for the presence of semen. No semen was detected on the bottom sheet. The testing from the top sheet was either negative or inconclusive for semen. No semen was detected in the sexual-assault kit. Human DNA was detected in Kemp's fingernail scrapings, but no male DNA was detected on either sample.

¶14. Finally, a blood test was performed on the knife. Of the five areas tested, one was positive for blood. That area was located near the tip of the blade. The knife blade and handle were tested for touch DNA. Male DNA was detected on the knife blade, but Howard was excluded as the source.

¶15. After concluding the evidentiary hearing, the trial court entered an order denying Howard's petition for postconviction relief. Specifically, the trial court found that there had been no DNA evidence at the original trial and that Howard had not "present[ed] any new evidence regarding Dr. West or his bite-mark identification that would constitute ‘newly discovered evidence [that would] probably produce a different result or induce a different verdict, if a new trial [wa]s granted ....’ " (alterations in original) (quoting Crawford , 867 So. 2d at 204 ). Howard timely appealed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶16. In Chamberlin v. State , this Court held that

[t]his Court has recognized that post-conviction-relief actions have become part of the death-penalty appeal process. The standard of review for capital convictions and sentences is "one of ‘heightened scrutiny’ under which all bona fide doubts are resolved in favor of the accused." "This Court recognizes that ‘what may be harmless error in a case with less at stake becomes reversible error when the penalty is death. ’ "

Chamberlin v. State , 55 So. 3d 1046, 1049-50 (Miss. 2010) (citations omitted).

¶17. Also, our standard of review provides that "[w]hen reviewing a [trial] court's decision to deny a petition for post-conviction relief this Court will not disturb the trial court's factual findings unless they are found to be clearly erroneous."...