McMillian v. Johnson

Decision Date17 January 1995
Docket NumberNo. CV-93-A-699-N.,CV-93-A-699-N.
Citation878 F. Supp. 1473
PartiesWalter McMILLIAN, Plaintiff, v. W.E. JOHNSON, et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Middle District of Alabama
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Robert B. McDuff, Jackson, MS, Bryan A. Stevenson, Bernard E. Harcourt, Alabama Capital Representation Resource Center, Montgomery, AL, for plaintiff Walter McMillian.

Andrew W. Redd, Alabama Dept. of Corrections, Legal Div., Montgomery, AL, for defendants W.E. Johnson, Morris Thigpen, Tom Allen, Marian Shinbaum and Charlie Jones, in their individual capacity.

William G. McKnight, Montgomery, AL, for defendants Simon Benson and Larry Ikner, in their individual capacity.

Bart Gregory Harmon, Daryl L. Masters, Kristi A. Dowdy, Webb & Eley, P.C., Montgomery, AL, Jack Booker Weaver, Windell C. Owens, Owens, Weaver & Associates, P.C., Monroeville, AL, for defendant Tom Tate, in his individual capacity.

David Earl Allred, Hill, Hill, Carter, Franco, Cole & Black, Montgomery, AL, for intervenor-defendant Ass'n of County Commissions of Ala. Liability Self Ins. Fund.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ALBRITTON, District Judge.

This cause is now before the court on the Motions for Summary Judgment filed by Defendants Tom Tate ("Tate"), Larry Ikner ("Ikner"), Simon Benson ("Benson"), Mike Barnett ("Barnett"), Morris Thigpen ("Thigpen"), Tom Allen ("Allen"), Marian Shinbaum ("Shinbaum"), W.E. Johnson ("Johnson"), and Charlie Jones ("Jones").1 For the reasons stated below, the court finds that the Motions for Summary Judgment are due to be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

I. STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Walter McMillian ("McMillian") filed this suit in this court on June 4, 1993, against: Tate, Sheriff of Monroe County; Ikner, an investigator for the Monroe County District Attorney; Benson, an investigator for the Alabama Bureau of Investigation ("ABI"); Barnett, an investigator for the Alabama Department of Public Safety; Thigpen, Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections; Allen, the Associate Commissioner for Program Services of the Alabama Department of Corrections; Shinbaum, Director of Classification for the Alabama Department of Corrections; Johnson, Warden of Holman Prison (and later the Institutional Coordinator for the Alabama Department of Corrections); Jones, Warden of Holman Prison (after Defendant Johnson's tenure in such office); and Monroe County. The complaint alleges that McMillian was unlawfully arrested, prosecuted, convicted, imprisoned, and sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit. McMillian seeks damages for alleged violations of his rights under the United States Constitution pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. McMillian also seeks relief for violations of his rights under the Alabama Constitution. Finally, McMillian makes claims for relief under Alabama tort law.

In 1993, Tate, Ikner, Benson, Barnett, and Monroe County filed Motions to Dismiss. On February 18, 1994, the court issued an order dismissing Monroe County from the case and dismissing all official capacity claims that had been brought against the individual Defendants.2 In the same order, the court dismissed many of the individual capacity claims against the individual Defendants who had filed motions to dismiss. The DISCUSSION section of this opinion will specify precisely which claims were dismissed on the Motions to Dismiss.

Since the court issued its decision on the Motions to Dismiss, every Defendant remaining in the case has filed (either separately or jointly with other Defendants) a Motion for Summary Judgment. The court now decides the Motions for Summary Judgment.

II. SUMMARY OF McMILLIAN'S ALLEGATIONS

The following statement of facts is a summary of the allegations made by McMillian in his Complaint. McMillian's allegations do not, of course, represent the factual findings of the court. These allegations are included in this opinion simply to provide the background necessary to place into context the matters in dispute. The court will analyze the evidence and resolve all matters in dispute which are capable of resolution by summary judgment in the DISCUSSION section of this opinion.

On November 1, 1986, in the middle of the morning, a woman named Ronda Morrison was murdered in Monroeville, Alabama, inside a business establishment known as Jackson Cleaners. In June of 1987, Plaintiff Walter McMillian, a.k.a. Johnny D. McMillian, ("McMillian") was arrested and eventually charged with Ronda Morrison's murder. In August of 1988, McMillian was tried for the murder of Ronda Morrison. A jury convicted McMillian. In September of 1988, he was sentenced to death.

Following his arrest in June of 1987, McMillian was held in the Monroe County jail. On July 29, 1987, McMillian was transferred to the custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections. As a result of the actions of Tate, Ikner, Benson, and the D.O.C. Defendants, McMillian was incarcerated on Death Row in Holman Prison. These Defendants put McMillian on Death Row as a pretrial detainee for the purpose of punishing and intimidating him. McMillian remained on Death Row until his trial approximately one year later.

Tate, Ikner, and Benson were primarily responsible for the investigation of Ronda Morrison's murder. McMillian would not have been prosecuted or convicted but for the fact that these Defendants suppressed a great deal of exculpatory evidence. Tate, Ikner, and Benson suppressed evidence related to the testimony of Ralph Myers ("Myers") who was the key witness against McMillian at his trial for the Morrison murder. Myers testified falsely that he drove McMillian in McMillian's truck to Jackson Cleaners on the morning of the murder, and that McMillian went inside the Cleaners while Myers waited in the parking lot. Myers further testified that he heard gunshots and went inside the Cleaners. According to his testimony, when Myers went inside the cleaners he saw Ronda Morrison dead and McMillian with a gun.

Additionally, Tate, Ikner and Benson suppressed evidence indicating that Myers lied in his testimony. For example, on June 3, 1987, Myers was asked by Tate, Ikner, and Benson in a tape-recorded interview if McMillian had committed or ordered the murder of Ronda Morrison. Myers said that McMillian had nothing to do with the murder and offered to take a polygraph examination regarding this matter. From late May, 1987, until at least June 9, 1987, Myers repeatedly told Defendants during interrogations that McMillian was not involved in the murder.

Prior to McMillian's trial, Myers was sent to the Taylor Hardin medical facility for a psychiatric examination. While there, Myers told four hospital staff doctors that he was being pressured and threatened by law enforcement officials to frame an innocent man. Myers was referring to McMillian. On August 27, 1987, a man named Isaac Dailey told Benson, in a tape-recorded statement, that Myers had said he was going to frame McMillian for still another murder. All of this exculpatory evidence was known to Tate, Ikner, and Benson. However, McMillian could not use the evidence to defend himself in his criminal trial because these Defendants withheld and suppressed the evidence.

Furthermore, Tate, Ikner, and Benson pressured and threatened Myers in order to persuade him to give evidence implicating McMillian in the murder, evidence these Defendants knew, or should have known, was false. Among other things, these Defendants threatened Myers by telling him he would receive the electric chair if he did not implicate McMillian, but Myers would live if he did implicate McMillian. Also, these Defendants intimidated Myers by having him incarcerated on Death Row in 1987, even though Myers had not been convicted of capital murder or sentenced to death. All of this pressure and intimidation eventually caused Myers to implicate McMillian and to testify against McMillian.

The only other witnesses at the trial who gave testimony indicating that McMillian committed the murder were Bill Hooks, Jr. ("Hooks") and Joe Hightower ("Hightower"). Hooks testified falsely that he drove by Jackson Cleaners the morning of the murder and saw Myers and McMillian get into McMillian's truck and drive away. Hightower testified falsely that he saw McMillian's truck outside Jackson Cleaners on the morning of the murder.

Tate, Ikner, and Benson withheld and suppressed evidence relating to both Hooks and Hightower that was exculpatory for McMillian. For example, as a result of his willingness to testify falsely against McMillian, pending criminal charges against Hooks were dropped, other pending charges against him were never prosecuted, he was relieved from paying several fines he owed as a result of prior convictions, he received money from Tate, and he was promised an additional reward of $5,000.00 which he received after the trial. In addition to Tate, Ikner and Benson knew of these arrangements and helped bring them about. As a result of his willingness to testify falsely against McMillian, Hightower was promised a reward of $2,000.00 or more, which he received after the trial. Tate, Ikner, and Benson knew of this arrangement and were involved in bringing it about.

Both Hooks and Hightower, when testifying at trial about the truck they saw outside Jackson Cleaners, said the truck was a "low-rider" and low "to the ground." However, Tate, Ikner, and Benson learned well in advance of the trial that McMillian's truck had not been converted into a "low-rider" until several months after the murder.

Tate, Ikner, and Benson procured Hooks' false testimony in part by having Hooks look at McMillian's truck at the Monroe County Jail after McMillian had been arrested so Hooks could later describe this...

To continue reading

Request your trial
25 cases
  • McMilliam v. Monroe County Alabama
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • June 2, 1997
    ...Myers into making false statements and suppressed exculpatory evidence. App. to Pet. for Cert. 26a-33a; McMillian v. Johnson, 878 F.Supp. 1473, 1486-1488 (M.D.Ala.1995). The District Court dismissed the claims against Monroe County and the claims against Tate and Ikner in their official cap......
  • Rhodes v. Smithers
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of West Virginia
    • September 15, 1995
    ...concealed and misrepresented material facts which may have influenced prosecutor's decision to prosecute); McMillian v. Johnson, 878 F.Supp. 1473, 1502-03 (M.D.Ala.1995) (police officers have a clearly established duty to turn exculpatory evidence over to the prosecutor for disclosure to th......
  • Pierce v. San Mateo Cnty. Sheriff's Dep't
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
    • December 31, 2014
    ...personal capacities, and these claims continued to proceed independently through the lower federal courts. (Ibid.; McMillian v. Johnson (M.D.Ala.1995) 878 F.Supp. 1473.) This does not mean an individual state defendant sued in his or her personal capacity, such as a police officer or deputy......
  • Monat v. State Farm Ins. Co.
    • United States
    • Michigan Supreme Court
    • April 22, 2004
    ...e.g., Leon C Baker, PC v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., 821 So.2d 158, 165 (Ala., 2001), quoting McMillian v. Johnson, 878 F.Supp. 1473, 1520 (M.D.Ala., 1995) ("`It is noteworthy that Alabama has not followed the trend of abolishing the requirement that parties be identical, ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT