Loyd v. Smith

• Decision Date: 18 April 1990
• Docket Number: No. 89-3582,89-3582
• Citation: 899 F.2d 1416
• Parties: Alvin Scott LOYD, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Larry SMITH, Acting Warden, Louisiana State Penitentiary, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 1416

899 F.2d 1416

Alvin Scott LOYD, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Larry SMITH, Acting Warden, Louisiana State Penitentiary Respondent-Appellee.

No. 89-3582.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

April 18, 1990.

John W. Getsinger (court appointed), James J. Bertrand, Minneapolis, Minn., Cecil M. Burglass, Jr., Stephen F. Cameron, Douglas W. Freese, New Orleans, La., for petitioner-appellant.

Thomas Daley, John M. Crum, Jr., George Ann Graugnard, Asst. Dist. Attys., Edgard, La., for respondent-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Before POLITZ, JOHNSON and HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judges.

JOHNSON, Circuit Judge:

Alvin Scott Loyd was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death by a jury for the murder of three year old Tina Giovanetti. At the state habeas level, Loyd raised a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. ¹ After conducting an evidentiary hearing, the state court concluded that the performance of counsel at the sentencing phase was deficient; however, because the state court concluded that such deficiency did not prejudice Loyd, the state court denied habeas relief. After exhausting all state court avenues of relief, Loyd filed a Petition for Postconviction Relief, Writ of Habeas Corpus, Request for Evidentiary Hearing and Stay of Execution with the federal district court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The district court granted a stay of execution but denied Loyd's requested relief without holding an evidentiary hearing. In regard to the ineffective assistance claim, the district court concluded that, contrary to the finding by the state court, counsel did not perform in a deficient manner.

The district court, ordering that the stay remain in effect pending appeal, issued a Certificate of Probable Cause to appeal to this Court. We conclude that the district court erred by failing to give proper deference to the factual findings of the state court pursuant to section 2254(d). Consequently, we vacate the finding of the district court on the issue of counsel's deficient performance and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. ²

I. BACKGROUND

A. Chronology of the Proceedings

A grand jury in St. John the Baptist Parish returned an indictment charging Loyd with first degree murder. ³ After a bifurcated trial, the jury unanimously found Loyd guilty and recommended the death penalty. ⁴ The Louisiana Supreme Court affirmed Loyd's conviction, but vacated the death sentence and remanded for a new sentencing trial because of error in the trial judge's instructions to the jury. At the second sentencing trial, the jury again imposed the death penalty. The sentence was affirmed on appeal. State v. Loyd, 489 So.2d 898 (La.1986), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1042, 107 S.Ct. 1984, 95 L.Ed.2d 823 (1987), reh'g denied of cert. denial, 483 U.S. 1011, 107 S.Ct. 3244, 97 L.Ed.2d 749 (1987).

Approximately one week prior to the October 16, 1987, execution date, Loyd filed a Petition for Postconviction Relief in the St. John the Baptist Parish state trial court. On the same date, October 9, the state trial court denied the petition. On October 12, the Supreme Court of Louisiana granted Loyd a stay of execution and remanded the case to the state trial court for an evidentiary hearing on four issues including the ineffective assistance of counsel claim.

The state court conducted the evidentiary hearing and concluded that Loyd's counsel at the sentencing trial was deficient because of counsel's failure to pursue mitigating evidence of mental disease or defect and to retain a psychiatrist to assist in developing this clearly relevant line of evidence. ⁵ However, the state court concluded that this deficient performance was not prejudicial, and denied Loyd relief. The Louisiana Supreme Court thereafter denied Loyd's subsequent writ of certiorari without written decision. State ex rel. Loyd v. Butler, 514 So.2d 446 (La.1987). On March 7, 1989, Loyd filed a Second Petition for Postconviction Relief in the state court. Loyd was denied relief, and the Louisiana Supreme Court denied certiorari. State ex rel. Loyd v. Butler, 539 So.2d 639 (La.1989).

On March 29, Loyd filed a Petition for Postconviction Relief, Writ of Habeas Corpus, Evidentiary Hearing and a Stay of Execution in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. This petition asserted twenty-nine grounds for relief. ⁶ The district court granted Loyd a stay of execution and directed the parties to submit a brief on four of the issues. On July 27, 1989, the district court, in an order addressing all of Loyd's claims, denied the Petition. Notably, the district court determined, in a finding contrary to the conclusion of the state court, and without holding an evidentiary hearing, that Loyd's counsel was not deficient at the second sentencing trial.

The district court issued a Certificate of Probable Cause to appeal to this Court, and ordered that the stay of execution remain in effect pending appeal. Consequently, this case comes to this Court in a somewhat unusual posture; specifically, the state court, after conducting an evidentiary hearing, concluded that counsel at the sentencing phase was deficient; the district court, without conducting an evidentiary hearing, reached the opposite conclusion.

B. State Court Proceedings Relevant to the Ineffective Assistance Claim

1. Pre-Trial

At approximately 2:30 a.m. on Monday, April 27, 1981, police officers apprehended Loyd at his home and took him to the St. John the Baptist Parish police station. Because Loyd was shaking and appeared nervous and upset, the Sheriff summoned Dr. S.J. St. Martin, the coroner for St. John the Baptist Parish and a family practitioner who had treated the Loyd family for several years. Dr. St. Martin administered a drug containing phenothiazine, an anti-psychotic medication.

On April 28, 1981, the state court appointed Donald Cicet to represent Loyd. On May 1, 1981, Hackman and Lewis were appointed to succeed Cicet as counsel. On May 13, the Louisiana court appointed Dr. St. Martin, who at this time had been treating Loyd for approximately two and one-half weeks, and Dr. Kenneth Ritter, a Board Certified Psychiatrist and a specialist in Forensic Psychiatry, to a Sanity Commission. The purpose of the Commission was to determine whether Loyd was sane or insane at the time of the offense and whether Loyd was competent to stand trial. ⁷

The Commission submitted a written report and the doctors testified at a sanity hearing as to the Commission's conclusions that, although Loyd was sane at the time the crime was committed, he was not competent to stand trial. On the question of sanity, Louisiana courts apply the McNaughten Rule, codified at LSA-R.S. 14:14, which states:

If the circumstances indicate that because of a mental disease or mental defect the offender was incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong with reference to the conduct in question, the offender shall be exempt from criminal responsibility.

As to the second prong of the Commission's task, determining competency to stand trial, the doctors found that Loyd's depression rendered him unable to understand the charges and proceedings against him and that he could not effectively participate or assist in his defense. Based on these findings, the court committed Loyd to the Feliciana Forensic Facility (hereinafter Feliciana) for treatment of his depression. Dr. Aris Cox, a Board Certified Forensic Psychiatrist, treated Loyd while he was institutionalized at Feliciana.

At Feliciana, Loyd was also evaluated by Dr. Thomas Fain, a Board Certified Psychologist, and R. Roy Allen, M.A., a Psychological Assistant III. These men performed several diagnostic and psychological assessment tests on Loyd. The Feliciana report of Loyd's psychological evaluation indicates that Loyd was abused as a child; that during Loyd's tenure in the Navy he was treated for mental problems, used alcohol, marijuana and PCP; that Loyd reported excessive beer drinking and suspected drug ingestion on the day of the crime, that Loyd suffered a loss of memory following the crime, and that Loyd experienced headaches and difficulty sleeping while at Feliciana.

On November 19, 1981, five months after Loyd was committed to Feliciana, the Sanity Commission issued another report indicating that Loyd was competent to stand trial. Prior to the 1983 trial, Loyd's mother gave Hackman $2000 to retain a psychiatrist to assist in the defense. Hackman used $750 of the fund to retain Dr. C.B. Scrignar to evaluate Loyd.

2. The Guilt/Innocence Phase

At trial, Loyd's attorneys devised a defense strategy centering around Loyd's asserted insanity at the time of the offense. Hackman called Dr. Cox, Loyd's treating physician at Feliciana, to testify on the issue of Loyd's sanity. ⁸ Dr. Cox indicated that it was not possible for him to state positively whether Loyd was sane or insane. ⁹ Cox did indicate that a finding of sanity did not foreclose the existence of other mental defects. "[P]eople can have significant psychiatric problems but still meet, in my opinion, the legal tests for sanity." Dr. Cox noted that Loyd had a difficult childhood, had suffered abuse at the hand of his father, and that, on at least one occasion, his father had shot him.

The Government called Dr. Ritter to testify as to the Sanity Commission's conclusion that Loyd was sane at the time the offense was committed. The case was submitted to the jury, which returned with a verdict of guilty.

3. The Sentencing Phase

At the first sentencing trial, Loyd's counsel presented no evidence in rebuttal or in mitigation. The Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure indicates that evidence in mitigation includes evidence indicating that "the offense was committed while the offender was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance," and evidence that "at the time...