Owens v. State
Decision Date | 23 October 1995 |
Citation | 908 S.W.2d 923 |
Parties | Gaile K. OWENS and Pervis T. Payne, Appellants/Appellees, v. STATE of Tennessee, Appellee/Appellant. |
Court | Tennessee Supreme Court |
Ronald Lee Gilman, Rebecca Pearson Tuttle, Steven C. Brammer, Farris, Hancock, Gilman, Brannan & Hellen, Memphis, for Owens.
J. Brooke Lathram, Willam Lester Jones, R. Porter Field, Burch, Porter & Johnson, Memphis, for Payne.
Charles W. Burson, Attorney General & Reporter, Nashville, Amy L. Tarkington, Assistant Attorney General, Nashville, James J. Challen, III, Thomas D. Henderson, Assistant District Attorneys, Memphis, for Appellee/Appellant.
John E. Herbison, Rebecca Freeman, Nashville, for amicus curiae, Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
We granted this consolidated appeal in order to determine whether the rules, statutes, or constitution of this state, authorize a trial court in a post-conviction capital case to provide expert services if necessary to ensure the constitutional rights of an indigent petitioner. We have determined that this issue is best resolved by an interpretation of the applicable statutes and specifically whether Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-14-207(b) (1990 & 1995 Supp.), (which authorizes expert services if necessary for the protection of the constitutional rights of an indigent defendant), applies to post-conviction capital cases, and whether and under what circumstances an indigent petitioner in a capital post-conviction case is entitled to an ex parte hearing to determine the necessity of such services. We conclude that the statute applies in post-conviction capital cases, and that when certain procedural criteria are satisfied, an indigent petitioner in a post-conviction capital case is entitled to an ex parte hearing on a motion for expert or investigative services. Accordingly, we reverse, in part, the Court of Criminal Appeals' judgment and remand to the respective trial courts for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Appellant Gaile K. Owens was originally tried with co-defendant Sidney Porterfield in January of 1986. Owens was convicted of one count of accessory before the fact to first-degree murder and sentenced to death. This Court affirmed her conviction and sentence, 1 and the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari review. 2
In 1988, Appellant Pervis Tyrone Payne was tried and convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of assault with intent to commit first-degree murder. Payne was sentenced to death on each conviction for first-degree murder, and received a thirty year sentence on the conviction for assault with intent to commit first-degree murder. This Court affirmed his convictions and sentences. 3 The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari review as to one sentencing issue, but affirmed the judgment of this Court. 4
Thereafter, Owens and Payne each filed petitions for post-conviction relief. In the course of their separate proceedings, each also moved the trial court for funds for investigative and expert services and requested an ex parte hearing on the motion.
In each proceeding the trial court denied the motion, relying on Teague v. State, 772 S.W.2d 915 (Tenn.Crim.App.1988), perm. app. denied (Tenn.1989). In that case, the Court of Criminal Appeals said in dicta that neither Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-14-207(b), authorizing trial courts to hold ex parte hearings on motions requesting funds for investigative and expert services, nor Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 13, empowering trial courts to approve such funds if necessary to protect constitutional rights, apply to post-conviction capital cases. However, the trial court in each case granted Owens and Payne permission to seek an interlocutory appeal pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.
The Court of Criminal Appeals granted an interlocutory appeal in each case, and consolidated the cases for hearing and decision. The Court of Criminal Appeals' unanimously affirmed the trial court's denial of the request for an ex parte hearing, concluding that absent statutory authorization or Supreme Court rule, ex parte hearings are not appropriate. In a split decision, however, the panel concluded that open-court hearings on such motions are appropriate, and therefore remanded to the respective trial courts.
Despite agreeing that a remand was necessary, the two judge majority disagreed as to the rationale for the remand. Although finding that Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-14-207(b) does not apply, one judge concluded that under Tenn.Sup.Ct.Rule 13, a trial court may authorize funds for expert services in a capital post-conviction case, if the court determines that such services are necessary to ensure the protection of an indigent capital petitioner's constitutional rights. The other judge relied upon the Court of Criminal Appeals' earlier decision in Teague, and concluded that neither the Supreme Court rule nor the statute authorize investigative or expert services in post-conviction capital cases. Both judges found that Rule 706, Tenn.R.Evid., which allows courts to appoint experts on bench-tried issues, and Burford v. State, 845 S.W.2d 204 (Tenn.1992), which discusses the dictates of due process in the context of post-conviction proceedings, require that trial courts order funding of support services, if the services are necessary to ensure the protection of the indigent capital petitioner's constitutional rights.
Thereafter, we granted Rule 11 applications for permission to appeal to resolve these important questions of law.
In this Court, Owens and Payne first assert that Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-14-207(b), and Tenn.Sup.Ct.Rule 13 apply to post-conviction capital cases. Even assuming that the statute and rule do not apply however, they argue that courts have the inherent power under Tenn.R.Evid. 706, and the constitutional authority under Burford, to order funds for experts and investigators in capital post-conviction proceedings. In contrast, the State argues that there is no right to state-funded support services in post-conviction capital cases under any authority, inherent, statutory, or constitutional.
Initially, we observe that under Tennessee law, courts do not decide constitutional questions unless resolution is absolutely necessary for determination of the case and the rights of the parties. Watts v. Memphis Transit Management Co., 224 Tenn. 721, 462 S.W.2d 495 (1971); Glasgow v. Fox, 214 Tenn. 656, 383 S.W.2d 9, 13-14 (1964); State ex rel. West v. Kivett, 203 Tenn. 49, 55-56, 308 S.W.2d 833 (1957); City of Greenfield v. Callins, 195 Tenn. 285, 287, 259 S.W.2d 525 (1953); State Board of Architectural & Engineering Examiners v. Blalock, 190 Tenn. 626, 631 231 S.W.2d 326 (1950); State ex rel. Loser v. National Optical Stores Co., 189 Tenn. 433, 444, 225 S.W.2d 263 (1949); Haynes v. City of Pigeon Forge, 883 S.W.2d 619, 620 (Tenn.App.1994); Bah v. Bah, 668 S.W.2d 663, 668 (Tenn.App.1983). If issues in a case can be resolved on non-constitutional grounds, courts should avoid deciding constitutional issues. Id. Accordingly, we must first consider whether or not the statute authorizing trial courts to hold ex parte hearings and order funds for expert and investigative services applies in capital post-conviction cases.
Our consideration of this issue is guided by well-established rules of statutory construction. The most basic principle of statutory construction is to ascertain and give effect to the legislative intent without unduly restricting or expanding a statute's coverage beyond its intended scope. State v. Sliger, 846 S.W.2d 262, 263 (Tenn.1993). Where, as here, the parties derive different interpretations from the statutory language, an ambiguity exists, and we must look to the entire statutory scheme in seeking to ascertain legislative intent. Lyons v. Rasar, 872 S.W.2d 895, 897 (Tenn.1994). Statutes "in pari materia"--those relating to the same subject or having a common purpose--are to be construed together. Id. Finally, in construing statutes courts must presume that the Legislature has knowledge of its prior enactments and knows the state of the law at the time it passes legislation. Wilson v. Johnson County, 879 S.W.2d 807, 810 (Tenn.1994). We must now apply those principles to the statutes at issue in this case.
In support of their argument that trial courts are authorized by statute to hold ex parte hearings and order state-funded investigative and expert services in post-conviction capital cases if necessary to the protection of constitutional rights, Owens and Payne rely upon Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-14-207(b). That statute provides:
(b) In capital cases where the defendant has been found to be indigent by the court of record having jurisdiction of the case, such court in an ex parte hearing may in its discretion determine that investigative or expert services or other similar services are necessary to ensure that the constitutional rights of the defendant are properly protected. If such determination is made, the court may grant prior authorization for these necessary services in a reasonable amount to be determined by the court. The authorization shall be evidenced by a signed order of the court. The order shall provide for the reimbursement of reasonable and necessary expenses by the administrative director of the courts as authorized by this part, and rules promulgated thereunder by the supreme court.
That statutory provision is incorporated by reference and applies to post-conviction capital cases, Owens and Payne argue, by virtue of the Post-Conviction Procedure Act, Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-30-121 (1990), 5 which provides that "[i]ndigency shall be determined and counsel and court reporters appointed and reimbursed as now provided for criminal and habeas corpus cases by chapter 14, parts 2 and 3 of this title." Title 40, Chapter 14, Part 2 includes Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-14-207(b) above....
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