Nichols v. State

• Decision Date: 07 October 2002
• Citation: 90 S.W.3d 576
• Parties: Harold Wayne NICHOLS v. STATE of Tennessee.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

90 S.W.3d 576

Harold Wayne NICHOLS v. STATE of Tennessee.

Supreme Court of Tennessee, at Knoxville.

October 7, 2002.

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Ardena J. Garth, District Public Defender, and Mary Ann Green, Assistant Public Defender, Chattanooga, Tennessee; Donald E. Dawson, Post Conviction Defender, and Catherine Y. Brockenborough, Assistant Post-Conviction Defender, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Harold Wayne Nichols.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; Gordon W. Smith, Associate Solicitor General; Gill Robert Geldreich, Assistant Attorney General; William H. Cox, III, District Attorney General; and C. Leland Davis, C. Caldwell Huckabay, and Glenn R. Pruden, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

David M. Eldridge and Jeanne L. Wiggins, Knoxville, Tennessee, for Amicus Curiae, The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and The Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

OPINION

E. RILEY ANDERSON, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which FRANK F. DROWOTA, III, C.J., and JANICE M. HOLDER, and WILLIAM M. BARKER, JJ., joined.

The petitioner, Harold Wayne Nichols, filed post-conviction petitions seeking relief from his conviction for felony murder, his sentence of death, and his numerous convictions for aggravated rape, first degree burglary, and larceny upon the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel, as well as other legal grounds. After conducting several evidentiary hearings, the trial court denied relief as to the felony murder conviction and sentence of death, but granted partial relief by ordering new sentencing hearings as to the remaining convictions. The Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that the trial court erred by allowing the petitioner to assert his right against self-incrimination during the post-conviction proceedings, yet upheld the trial court's judgment in all other respects.

After reviewing the record and applicable authority, we conclude: (1) that the petitioner was not denied his right to the effective assistance of counsel based on the failure to investigate and challenge his confessions as false; (2) that the petitioner was not denied his right to the effective assistance of counsel based on the failure to challenge the legality of his arrest; (3) that the petitioner was not denied his right to the effective assistance of counsel at the sentencing phase of his capital trial based on the failure to present additional mitigating evidence; (4) that the petitioner was not denied his right to the effective assistance of counsel at the sentencing phase of his capital trial based on the failure to object to misconduct by the prosecution; (5) that the petitioner was not denied his right to the effective assistance of counsel at the sentencing phase of his capital trial based on the failure to request mitigating instructions; (6) that the petitioner was not denied his right to the effective assistance of counsel at the sentencing phase of his capital trial based on the failure to raise issues regarding the constitutionality of capital punishment; (7) that the petitioner was not denied his right to the effective assistance of counsel at the sentencing phase of his capital trial based on the failure to object to the discovery of notes prepared by a defense psychologist on self-incrimination grounds; (8) that the Court of Criminal Appeals did not err in refusing to remand the case for additional DNA testing; (9) that the Court of Criminal Appeals erred by addressing the issue of whether the petitioner had a right against self-incrimination in this post-conviction proceeding but the error had no effect on the outcome; and (10) that the trial court's findings were not clearly erroneous and cumulative error did not require the reversal of the petitioner's convictions. Accordingly, we affirm the Court of Criminal Appeals' judgment.

BACKGROUND

Procedural History

The petitioner, Harold Wayne Nichols, was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to death for the 1988 killing of 21-year-old Karen Pulley in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In imposing the death penalty, the jury found that Nichols had several prior convictions for violent felonies, including five aggravated rapes committed against four different victims. To place the issues in this post-conviction appeal in the appropriate context, we first summarize the extensive background facts and procedural history.

On September 30, 1988, the petitioner, Harold Wayne Nichols, broke into a home in the Brainerd area of Chattanooga and found the victim, Karen Pulley, alone in an upstairs bedroom. After forcibly removing Pulley's clothing, Nichols raped her and struck her in the head with a board he had found in the home. After the rape, Nichols struck the victim in the head with the board at least four more times as she struggled. Although Pulley was found alive by one of her roommates, she died the following day. The cause of death was the blunt trauma to the victim's head, which resulted in skull fractures and massive brain injuries.

Several months later, on January 5, 1989, police officers arrested Nichols after receiving information that he committed several rapes in the East Ridge area near Chattanooga that were unrelated to the Pulley rape and murder. When questioned by officers of the East Ridge Police Department on January 6, 1989, Nichols confessed to several rapes that occurred in December of 1988 and early January of 1989. When questioned later by Detective Richard Heck of the Chattanooga Police Department, Nichols confessed to the rape and murder of Karen Pulley and gave a videotaped statement in which he discussed the layout of the victim's home and bedroom, his entry point into the home, the facts of the rape and murder, and his disposal of the murder weapon.

Following these confessions, Nichols was first charged with and convicted of numerous offenses involving four different victims:¹ aggravated rape and first degree burglary committed against T.R. on December 27, 1988; aggravated rape and first degree burglary committed against S.T. on January 3, 1989; two counts of aggravated rape and first degree burglary committed against P.R. on January 3, 1989; and aggravated rape, first degree burglary, and petit larceny against P.G. on December 20, 1988. Nichols pled guilty to the offenses involving T.R. and S.T., but elected to go to jury trials for the offenses involving P.G. and P.R. and was convicted.²

After these convictions, Nichols pled guilty to charges of felony murder, aggravated rape, and first degree burglary for the offenses against Karen Pulley. At a sentencing hearing to determine the punishment for the felony murder conviction, the prosecution sought the death penalty based upon two aggravating circumstances: that Nichols had prior convictions for felonies involving violence and that the killing of Pulley had occurred during the commission of a felony. See Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-204(i)(2) and (7). The State introduced Nichols' five prior convictions for aggravated rape against T.R., S.T., P.G., and P.R., as well as his videotaped confession to the murder and rape of Karen Pulley.

In mitigation, the defense introduced evidence of the defendant's character and background. Reverend Robert Butler testified that he had known Nichols since his childhood and that Nichols had the "best quality" of character as a child. Winston Gonia, a minister who had known Nichols since age ten, also testified that Nichols was a good person. Similarly, Reverend Charles Hawkins testified that he had visited Nichols at an orphanage on many occasions and that Nichols had been a "very fine young man." Reverend Hawkins testified that he could not associate the crimes with the person he once knew.

A co-employee, Larry Kilgore, testified that he worked with Nichols at Godfather's Pizza and considered Nichols to be a dependable employee and a friend. Kilgore testified that Nichols had received promotions leading to assistant manager and worked night shifts and did paperwork. Kilgore was shocked at Nichols' arrest and said that the person who committed these crimes was not the person that he knew.

The defendant's wife, Joanne Nichols, testified that she married Nichols in 1986 and that he was a perfect gentleman who was nice, caring, and never mean to her. The couple lived for a time with Nichols' father, whom Joanne Nichols described as harsh and unloving. She testified that her husband worked late hours and sometimes did not come home all night. She did not think that Nichols raped and killed the victim because he never showed any indication that he would act in that manner. She admitted that she told an investigating officer that Nichols had said the murder was an accident. Finally, she testified that she did not want her husband to die.

Nichols, age 29 at the time of the sentencing hearing, testified about his family background. When Nichols was ten years of age, his mother died of cancer and he was placed in an orphanage by his father. Nichols did not know why he had been placed in the orphanage and did not recall any abuse taking place while he was there. When Nichols was about to be adopted in 1976, he was instead returned to his father with whom he had a difficult relationship.

Nichols joined the army and received an honorable discharge in 1984. He married his wife, Joanne Nichols, in 1986, and he believed they had a good marriage. Nichols testified that he had a prior conviction for assault with intent to commit rape and that he had a daughter through a prior relationship for whom he paid child support up until the time of his arrest. Nichols said that he enjoyed his job and had received promotions from cook to assistant manager.

Nichols testified that when he committed acts of violence, he had a "strange...