Jones v. Workman

• Decision Date: 07 April 2015
• Docket Number: Case No. CIV–09–1172–W.
• Citation: 98 F.Supp.3d 1179
• Parties: Jared William JONES, Petitioner, v. Randall G. WORKMAN, Warden, Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Oklahoma

98 F.Supp.3d 1179

Jared William JONES, Petitioner

v.Randall G. WORKMAN, Warden, Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Respondent.¹

Case No. CIV–09–1172–W.

United States District Court, W.D. Oklahoma.

Signed April 7, 2015.

Randy A. Bauman, Sarah M. Jernigan, Federal Public Defender, Oklahoma City, OK, for Petitioner.

Jennifer J. Dickson, Oklahoma City, OK, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

LEE R. WEST, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus filed by Oklahoma death row inmate Jared William Jones pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (docket entry no. 21).² Petitioner, who appears through counsel, challenges the convictions and sentences entered against him in Oklahoma County District Court Case No. CF–2003–2046. In that case, a jury found Petitioner guilty of three counts of First Degree Malice Murder (Counts I, II, and III), and two counts of Shooting with Intent to Kill (Counts IV and V). Petitioner was sentenced to death for each of the three murder convictions. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for each of the two convictions for shooting with intent to kill. The trial judge ordered all sentences to run consecutively.

Petitioner has presented 14 grounds for relief. Six of those grounds, Grounds One through Five, Ground Eleven and Ground Twelve, assert claims that, if meritorious, could entitle Petitioner to a new trial of his guilt as well as a new sentencing. The remaining grounds for relief present claims having the potential to warrant resentencing only. Respondent has responded to the Petition (docket entry no. 32), and Petitioner has replied (docket entry no. 38). In addition to the Petition, Petitioner has filed a motion for an evidentiary hearing (docket entry no. 26), to which Respondent has filed an objection (docket entry no. 33), and Petitioner has replied (docket entry no. 39). He has also filed a motion for discovery (docket entry no. 22). Respondent has filed a response to the motion (docket entry no. 23), and Petitioner has replied (docket entry no. 24). By order entered September 29, 2011, Vicki Miles–LaGrange, Chief Judge of the United States Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, denied the motion for evidentiary hearing but stated that “[i]f the Court determines at a later date that a hearing is needed, the parties will be notified accordingly.” By a separate order entered that same date, Judge Miles–LaGrange addressed Petitioner's motion for discovery by granting his request for production of the videotaped interview of Carla Phillips, as well as his request for the production of all crime scene photographs, and denying all remaining discovery requests while noting that “[i]f the Court determines at a later date that discovery is needed and warranted, the parties will be notified at such time.”

The Court has conducted a thorough review of the entire state court record,³ the pleadings filed herein, and the applicable law, and has carefully considered all those materials in reaching its decision. It concludes, for the reasons stated herein, that Petitioner has failed to demonstrate that he is entitled to a new trial of his guilt. The Court finds, however, that Petitioner's first and second grounds for relief establish that he is entitled to a new sentencing. The Petition should, therefore, be conditionally granted to afford Petitioner a new sentencing proceeding.

I. Procedural History

In May of 2005, Petitioner's case was tried to a jury which sentenced him to death for the First Degree Malice Murders of Pamela Karr, Brian Galindo, and Joel Platt, and to life in prison for Shooting with the Intent to Kill Tara Platt and Tara Johns. The jury found that the death sentence imposed for the murder of Pamela Karr was supported by the single aggravating circumstance of Petitioner's having knowingly created a great risk of death to more than one person. The jury found that the death sentences imposed for the murders of Brian Galindo and Joel Platt were supported by two aggravating circumstances: (1) Petitioner's having knowingly created a great risk of death to more than one person; and (2) the murders were especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel (O.R. III at 514–523).

In Case No. D–2005–599, Petitioner appealed his convictions to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (the “OCCA”). In a published opinion, Jones v. State, 201 P.3d 869 (Okla.Crim.App.2009), the OCCA denied relief. Petitioner sought review by the United States Supreme Court of the OCCA's decision. His petition for writ of certiorari was denied on October 5, 2009. Jones v. Oklahoma, 558 U.S. 895, 130 S.Ct. 237, 175 L.Ed.2d 163 (2009). Petitioner also sought postconviction relief from the OCCA. In an unpublished order entered April 27, 2009, the OCCA denied the post-conviction application. Jones v. State, Case No. PCD–2005–822, slip op. (Okla.Crim.App.2009).

II. Facts

In adjudicating Petitioner's direct appeal, the OCCA made a determination of the facts of the case. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1), these factual determinations are presumed correct absent clear and convincing evidence rebutting them. Following review of the record, the trial transcripts, and the admitted exhibits, this Court finds that the OCCA's factual summary is adequate and accurate. The Court therefore adopts the following summary as its own.

[Petitioner] was convicted of shooting Joel Platt, Brian Galindo, [Pamela] Karr, Tara Platt and Tara Johns. Only the last two survived the shootings. The shootings were connected to [Petitioner's] relationship with Carla Phillips, his live-in girlfriend. [Petitioner] and [Carla] Phillips lived down the street from the Platt residence, where brother and sister, Joel and Tara lived and where the crime in question took place. Eight adults⁴ and two children were in the Platts' home at the time of the shootings. Five of the adults⁵ testified as witnesses for the State and [Petitioner] testified in his own behalf. While certain details of the circumstances leading up to and including the shootings vary among the witnesses, the State witnesses essentially testified to the following.

On the night of April 11, 2003, [Carla] Phillips and her young son went to the Platt residence, while [Petitioner] went to a car show. Before going to the show, [Petitioner] and his friends drank beer and wine and smoked marijuana. Meanwhile, at the Platt residence, [Carla] Phillips had joined Tara Platt, Tara Johns, and [two] other women in visiting, playing video games, drinking beer and smoking marijuana. While there were several children at the house early in the evening, by the time of the fatal confrontation, only Tara Platt's two children remained in the house, asleep in their beds. During the evening and into the early morning hours, [Carla] Phillips spoke with [Petitioner] several times over the phone. Their conversations included some amount of verbal sparring. After a conversation at approximately 2:36 a.m., April 12, [Petitioner] headed to the Platt residence, armed with two .45 caliber guns in his pockets.

By this time, Joel Platt, Brian Galindo, [Pamela] Karr, and Ramone Hernandez were at the Platt residence, having been at nightclubs earlier in the evening. Tara Platt was at the front door when she saw [Petitioner]'s car drive up. She opened here front door to see [Petitioner] get out of his car, walk to her house and inform her he had come to party with them. He entered the living room and asked for [Carla] Phillips. [Tara] Platt indicated [Carla] Phillips was in the back bedroom and she would get her for [Petitioner]. To get to the back bedroom, [Tara] Platt had to walk through the bedroom where her seven year old son was sleeping. Unbeknownst to [Tara] Platt, [Petitioner] followed her. He reached around her and pushed open to the door to the back bedroom. Angry that [Petitioner] had followed her into her son's room, she shoved him backwards, causing him to fall over a child size chair.

The ensuing argument over why [Petitioner] had forced open the door and why [Tara] Platt had pushed him, brought Joel Platt and Brian Galindo out from the bedroom. Joel Platt and [Brian] Galindo tried to calm [Petitioner] down and remove him from the child's bedroom either by placing him between the two of them with each grabbing an arm, or by Joel Platt placing his arm around [Petitioner's] shoulder and pushing him towards the door. [Petitioner] resisted their efforts to remove him from the room, saying he needed to talk with [Carla] Phillips. While coming through the doorway from the little boy's room into the living room, an intoxicated Joel Platt fell. He got up and took a “drunken swing” at [Petitioner], but missed him. Others in the house began telling, with some shouting, [Petitioner] to leave.

Despite continued efforts to get [Petitioner] to leave, [Petitioner], Joel Platt, and [Brian] Galindo ended up in the front bedroom which [Tara] Platt shared with her two year old daughter. [Tara] Platt told the men to leave and climbed onto her sleeping daughter's bed and covered her ears. Backed into a corner, [Petitioner] took out a gun, pointed it at Joel Platt's eyes, and announced he had “two [.45s].” Joel turned to get Ms. Phillips. She entered the room, briefly spoke with [Petitioner], then left the house. At the sight of the gun, [Brian] Galindo put his hands in the air and told [Petitioner], “we've got children in the house, we don't need this, put the gun away.” [Petitioner] fired [four] times at [Brian] Galindo, striking him in the chest. [Brian] Galindo fell in the middle of the bedroom floor. [Pamela] Karr rushed in and knelt by his side. [Petitioner] shot her twice in the head. Tara Platt put her head down and covered her daughter. [Petitioner] turned toward her and shot her in the shoulder and thumb.

Tara Johns was standing in the living room when she saw [Petitioner] shoot [Brian] Galindo. She grabbed a phone to call 911 and turned to see [Petitioner] facing her with a gun in each hand. She also saw Joel Platt

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