Matthews v. Parker, 09–5464.
| Citation | 651 F.3d 489 |
| Decision Date | 31 August 2011 |
| Docket Number | No. 09–5464.,09–5464. |
| Parties | David Eugene MATTHEWS, Petitioner–Appellant,v.Philip PARKER, Warden, Kentucky State Penitentiary, Respondent–Appellee. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit) |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
ARGUED: Alan Michael Freedman, Midwest Center for Justice, Evanston, Illinois, for Appellant. Matthew R. Krygiel, Office of the Kentucky Attorney General, Frankfort, Kentucky, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Alan Michael Freedman, Midwest Center for Justice, Evanston, Illinois, Susan M.J. Martin, East Brunswick, New Jersey, for Appellant. Matthew R. Krygiel, Office of the Kentucky Attorney General, Frankfort, Kentucky, for Appellee.Before: SILER, MOORE, and CLAY, Circuit Judges.CLAY, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which MOORE, J., joined. SILER, J. (pp. 525–28), delivered a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part.
Petitioner David Eugene Matthews, who was sentenced to death for murder by the State of Kentucky, appeals the district court's order denying Petitioner's claims and dismissing his petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM in part and REVERSE in part.
On June 29, 1981, Petitioner David Eugene Matthews (“Matthews” or “Petitioner”) shot his estranged wife Mary Marlene Matthews (“Marlene”), and his mother-in-law Magdalene Cruse (“Magdalene”) with a .22 caliber revolver fired from no more than eighteen inches away. The murders took place in the house Petitioner had previously shared with his wife before moving out a few weeks prior to the murders.
Petitioner and Marlene had been married for approximately two and a half years before the murders. Their marriage was tumultuous, and the couple separated often. During these separation periods, Petitioner moved out of the couple's home that they rented from Marlene's family, and moved in with his mother a few blocks away. The Kentucky Supreme Court found that “[t]hese separations were marked by extreme hostility,” Matthews v. Commonwealth, 709 S.W.2d 414, 417 (Ky.1985) (“ Matthews I ”), and Marlene would often yell at Petitioner from across the street. See id.
Marlene also frequently “swore out criminal warrants against [Petitioner] for harassment.” Id. In the five weeks preceding the murders, Marlene swore out two warrants against Petitioner. One charged Petitioner with sexually abusing Marlene's six-year-old daughter, Petitioner's step-daughter. The second warrant charged Petitioner with burglary, for breaking and entering into Marlene's residence. Petitioner was arrested pursuant to the first warrant, and released under a court order forbidding him from further contacting Marlene. Petitioner was not served with the second warrant until after the murders.
The Matthews and Cruse families also had a tense relationship. Magdalene often called and “harassed” Petitioner's mother, Margaret Laverne Matthews (“Laverne”), on the telephone. Laverne also often told Petitioner fabrications about Marlene's promiscuity in an effort to come between them.
On the evening of June 28, 1981, the night preceding the murders, Petitioner went to a bar with Carol Engel, a woman he had been seeing during the weeks leading up to the crimes, and drank heavily. Petitioner also took Dexedrine and Valium. Additionally, after drinking and taking pills, Petitioner asked Engel to borrow fifty dollars because he wanted to purchase a gun to protect his mother from the Cruse family. Engel lent him the money.
According to the Kentucky Supreme Court, in the head. Matthews I, 709 S.W.2d at 417. Petitioner left Magdalene mortally wounded. Magdalene died later that day.
After shooting his mother-in-law, Petitioner “went into the next room, had sexual relations one or two times with his wife, stayed with her until about 6:00 a.m., and shot and killed her.” Id. According to the evidence presented to the Kentucky trial court through Petitioner's psychiatrist, Petitioner “shot his wife twice because he thought he had missed the first time.” Id.
The following morning, Lawrence Cruse (“Cruse”), Marlene's father and Magdalene's husband, went to Marlene's home. Cruse found a pocketknife on the steps, and observed that the side door screen had been cut and the glass broken. See id. Once inside, he found Magdalene mortally wounded, and Marlene's twice-shot body.
Upon leaving Marlene's house, Petitioner returned to his mother's house. After telling his mother that he had shot Marlene and all of his problems were over, he disposed of the gun in the yard, asked his mother to wash his clothes, took some Valium pills, and went to sleep. The police arrived later that day, and informed Petitioner that he was suspected of murdering Marlene and Magdalene. Petitioner denied his involvement in the murders, but cooperated with the police. The police recovered the gun from Petitioner's mother's house that day, and took Petitioner into custody.
Subsequently, Petitioner was indicted for both murders, and for burglary.
Petitioner was arrested on June 29, 1981. On August 18, 1981 a grand jury indicted Petitioner for the murders of Mary Marlene Matthews, and Magdalene Cruse, and the burglary of Marlene's home. ( See App. at 45, Pet. for a Writ of Habeas Corpus.) Petitioner's trial, which was bifurcated into culpability and penalty phases, began in November 1982. The culpability phase lasted four days and resulted in convictions for both murders and the burglary. The penalty phase lasted only one afternoon and resulted in sentences of a term of years for the burglary, and death for each of the murders.
On direct review, Petitioner raised 37 assignments of error. These included, “arguments relat[ing] to the statutory construction and administration of Kentucky's death penalty statute;” “[e]vidence of the burglary warrant and the sexual abuse warrant taken out before the murders should not have been admitted;” “[Petitioner's] presentation of evidence of domestic conflict occurring before the murders took place was unduly limited;” “[t]estimony admitted on cross examination of [Petitioner's] psychiatrist violated the psychologist/patient privilege;” “[t]he evidence did not sustain using the burglary charge as an aggravating factor justifying the death penalty;” “[t]he evidence did not sustain using multiple murders as an aggravating factor justifying the death penalty, and the jury's findings were insufficient on this point;” “use of the word ‘recommend’ ... in the court's [death penalty] instructions [to the jury] was error;” “[t]he trial court failed to adequately instruct the jury when the jury inquired about parole;” and “[t]he trial judge used improper and erroneous considerations in imposing sentence.” Matthews I, 709 S.W.2d at 418.
Petitioner's direct appeal culminated on September 26, 1985 when the Kentucky Supreme Court affirmed Petitioner's conviction, and rejected all of Petitioner's assignments of error. Although the Kentucky Supreme Court's opinion only analyzed eight issues at length, the court stated that it Id. at 417.
In December 1986, Petitioner filed a “Motion to Set Aside, Correct or Vacate Judgment” pursuant to Kentucky Rule of Criminal Procedure 11.42 (“RCr 11.42”) in the Jefferson Circuit Court. The Kentucky trial court initially denied Petitioner's RCr 11.42 motion for post-conviction review. See Matthews v. Commonwealth, No. 81–CR–0915 (Jefferson Cir.Ct. Aug. 10, 1990). Counsel, however, successfully moved the trial court to reconsider its order. On December 23, 1991, the Kentucky trial court vacated Petitioner's death sentence, finding that the penalty phase jury instruction lessened the jury's sense of moral responsibility for Petitioner's sentence, and was, therefore, defective. ( See App. at 45, Matthews v. Commonwealth, No. 81–CR–0915 (Jefferson Cir.Ct. Dec. 23, 1991) (order vacating death sentence).)
In a new action, the Commonwealth appealed the Kentucky trial court's order vacating Petitioner's death sentence. In this appeal, the Kentucky Supreme Court reversed the trial court's vacatur of Petitioner's death sentence, and ordered the Kentucky trial court to examine all of the issues raised on Petitioner's motion for reconsideration. See Commonwealth of Ky. v. Hon. Ken Conlife and David Eugene Matthews, 92–SC–732–OA (Ky. Dec. 17, 1992) (unpublished). On remand, with a new judge presiding, the trial court denied Petitioner's motion for reconsideration. Petitioner appealed. His motion for reconsideration was first denied on November 20, 1997, and denied again on rehearing on March 19, 1998. See Matthews v. Commonwealth, No. 96–SC–805–MR (Ky. Nov. 20, 1997) (unpublished). Petitioner's direct appeal and state collateral review culminated on October 5, 1998 when the United States Supreme Court denied his petition for a writ of certiorari.
Petitioner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the district court on February 12, 1999, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. In his initial petition, Petitioner raised 46 grounds for relief, several of which had numerous sub-parts. These included several ineffective assistance of counsel claims; claims regarding the jury instructions in the penalty phase; claims regarding improper exclusion of mitigation evidence, and improper inclusion of irrelevant evidence; as well as failure to grant a directed verdict on the murder charges, among others.
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