Mathenia v. Delo, 91-2042
| Decision Date | 03 November 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 91-2042,91-2042 |
| Citation | 975 F.2d 444 |
| Parties | Chuck Lee MATHENIA, Appellant, v. Paul DELO, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Lawrence Fleming, St. Louis, Mo., argued, for appellant.
Stephen D. Hawke, Jefferson City, Mo., argued, for appellee.
Before BEAM, Circuit Judge, BRIGHT, Senior Circuit Judge, and VAN SICKLE, * Senior District Judge.
Charles (Chuck) Lee Mathenia, a Missouri death row inmate, appeals from the judgment of the district court 1 denying his petition for writ of habeas corpus. Mathenia argues that the district court erred in denying his claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, and in denying his claims that his Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated. We affirm.
The evidence adduced during trial showed that in the early morning hours of April 24, 1984, near Fredericktown, Missouri, Mathenia murdered Daisy Nash and Louanna Bailey. As stated in the opinion of the Missouri Supreme Court:
Decedents were Daisy Nash, 72, and her mentally impaired sister Louanna Bailey, aged 70. Appellant had lived with Daisy Nash for some seven years prior to her death. At the time of the killings, appellant was 25 years old and still living with Nash.
In September of 1983 appellant allegedly twice raped Louanna Bailey and in December of that year he was charged for those offenses upon her complaint. However, in February Louanna Bailey dropped the charges, indicating she would refuse to testify against appellant. The evidence indicated that the murders were motivated by appellant's resentment at having been arrested and confined in connection with these charges. Appellant vowed to take revenge on the two sisters.
Sometime after midnight on April 24, 1984, appellant returned home after spending the day with his sister and brother-in-law. An argument began with Daisy Nash as soon as he entered the house. During the course of this argument, appellant hit the 72-year-old woman in the face, knocking her to the floor. He then retrieved a butcher knife from the kitchen and after kicking and beating her savagely, he stabbed her several times.
Shortly thereafter, appellant rode his bicycle the two blocks to Louanna Bailey's home and told her he had killed State v. Mathenia, 702 S.W.2d 840, 841 (Mo. banc 1986).
Daisy. While Louanna tried to call Daisy, appellant procured a butcher knife. When he returned, Louanna attempted in vain to flee. Appellant stabbed her fatally in the back
Following a change of venue, Mathenia was convicted in Jefferson County Circuit Court of two counts of capital murder and was sentenced to death by lethal gas. Mathenia was represented at trial by public defender Donald Hager. Mathenia's convictions and sentences of death were affirmed on direct appeal. State v. Mathenia, 702 S.W.2d 840 (Mo. banc.), cert. denied, 477 U.S. 909, 106 S.Ct. 3286, 91 L.Ed.2d 574 (1986). Mathenia then sought state post-conviction relief pursuant to Missouri Supreme Court Rule 27.26 (repealed 1988). The circuit court denied relief and the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed. Mathenia v. State, 752 S.W.2d 873 (Mo.App.1988), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 1019, 109 S.Ct. 819, 102 L.Ed.2d 809 (1989). Mathenia then filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Following a limited evidentiary hearing, the district court denied the petition. Mathenia v. Delo, No. 89-88C(1) (E.D.Mo. April 22, 1991).
Mathenia claims that he was denied his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel. On appellate review, "the issue of effective assistance of counsel presents a mixed question of law and fact." Schlup v. Armontrout, 941 F.2d 631, 637 (8th Cir.1991), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1273, 117 L.Ed.2d 499 (1992). Thus, the court reviews the district court's legal conclusions de novo, while findings of fact are reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard. Couch v. Trickey, 892 F.2d 1338, 1341 (8th Cir.1989).
To prevail on his claims of ineffective assistance, Mathenia must establish that (1) counsel's performance was deficient and (2) that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). See also Sanders v. Trickey, 875 F.2d 205, 207-208 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 898, 110 S.Ct. 252, 107 L.Ed.2d 201 (1989).
The first claim of ineffective assistance is the failure of defense counsel to investigate and file a motion to suppress a confession given by Mathenia. The factual context surrounding the confession was stated by the Missouri Court of Appeals:
Defendant was arrested on April 25, 1984, and given Miranda warnings. He made no statement at that time. On Saturday, May 5, 1984, he advised a deputy sheriff he wished to talk to him. Because a lawyer had been appointed to represent defendant, the sheriff refused to permit him to make a statement at that time. On Monday, May 7, defendant spoke with his attorney by telephone, then told the sheriff his lawyer had advised him not to make a statement but he wanted to do so anyway. Only then did the sheriff take the video-taped confession.
Mathenia v. State, 752 S.W.2d at 875.
On May 7, 1984, Mathenia confessed to the murders of Nash and Bailey. During the forty minute video-taped confession, Mathenia described in detail the events of April 24 and April 25, 1984. The video-taped confession was admitted at trial and was shown to the jury. Trial Tr. 276. Mathenia claims that defense counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate and file a motion to suppress the confession.
At the evidentiary hearing before the district court, Donald Hager testified in regard to his failure to file a motion to suppress the confession.
Q. Why did you not pursue or file such motion?
A. I felt that it had no chance of success, based on my assessment of this case, the facts of this case, and several years of experience in prosecuting and defending. And experience with state trial judges.
Hearing Tr. 171. Supposedly, the motion to suppress would have been supported by the claim that Mathenia's confession was not knowingly and intelligently made. Mathenia is mildly mentally retarded with an intelligence quotient of approximately 70. Mathenia asserts that because of his mental retardation he could not have knowingly and intelligently waived his Miranda rights. However, Mathenia's decision to confess was uncoerced, his lawyer had advised him to stand mute, and he was aware of the state's intention to use his statement against him. Our review of the video-taped confession convinces us that the circumstances surrounding the confession establish that Mathenia possessed "the requisite level of comprehension" to waive his Miranda rights. Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. 412, 421, 106 S.Ct. 1135, 1141, 89 L.Ed.2d 410 (1986). We agree with the district court that defense counsel's failure to file a motion to suppress was not deficient performance.
Further, while Mathenia's graphic confession was destructive to his defense, it was far from the only evidence against him. Joyce St. Clair, Mathenia's step-sister, testified at the trial that Mathenia told her he had committed the murders. Trial Tr. 243-244. Robert Massey and Ronald Reed, inmates at the Jefferson County jail, each testified that Mathenia told them that he had killed two people. Trial Tr. 250, 255. The district court was correct in finding that the defense was not prejudiced since the outcome would not have been different had the confession been suppressed.
Mathenia next contends that defense counsel was ineffective for failing to present a diminished capacity defense. Mathenia claims his entitlement to this defense on two grounds: (1) mental retardation and (2) voluntary intoxication. In order to present a diminished capacity defense, Mathenia would have to show that at the time of the murders, he did not appreciate the nature of his conduct or was incapable of conforming his conduct as a result of mental disease or defect. Mo.Rev.Stat. §§ 562.086.1 and 552.010. The mental examinations performed by Dr. Basset and Dr. Vicioso did not reveal a mental disease or defect. Mental retardation in itself is insufficient to support a diminished capacity defense. State v. Gilmore, 681 S.W.2d 934, 940 (Mo. banc 1984).
A person who is voluntarily intoxicated is criminally responsible for his conduct unless such condition "[n]egatives the existence of the mental states of purpose or knowledge." Mo.Rev.Stat. § 562.076.1(1). As the district court found, there is no evidence that Mathenia's intoxication, if any, was so extreme as to negate purpose or knowledge. Morris v. State, 763 S.W.2d 327, 329-330 (Mo.App.1988).
Mathenia next contends that defense counsel was ineffective for failing to present certain mitigating witnesses. Mathenia presented three witnesses at the penalty phase of the trial. Thomas Davis, Mathenia's brother, testified as to Mathenia's childhood. Dr. Gary Bassett, a psychiatrist at the Farmington State Hospital, testified that Mathenia is mildly mentally retarded. Finally, Nina Hamilton, Mathenia's grade school teacher, testified as to her observations of Mathenia at that time. Still, Mathenia maintains that defense counsel should have presented the additional testimony of Reverend Gary Brinkley, Dorothy Stevens and Harold Mathenia. The district court concluded that these additional mitigation witnesses would have been cumulative and that defense counsel's performance in failing to present this testimony was not deficient. We agree.
At the penalty phase, the trial court instructed the jury on statutory aggravating...
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