People v. Wade

• Decision Date: 02 January 1987
• Citation: 233 Cal.Rptr. 48,43 Cal.3d 366,729 P.2d 239
• Court: California Supreme Court
• Parties: , 729 P.2d 239 The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Melvin Meffery WADE, Defendant and Appellant. Crim. 22654.

Page 48

233 Cal.Rptr. 48

43 Cal.3d 366, 729 P.2d 239

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Melvin Meffery WADE, Defendant and Appellant.

Crim. 22654.

Supreme Court of California In Bank.

Jan. 2, 1987.

Rehearing Granted March 26, 1987.

Frank O. Bell, Jr., State Public Defender, under appointment by the Supreme Court, William Blum and Donald L.A. Kerson, Deputy State Public Defenders, for defendant and appellant.

John K. Van de Kamp, Atty. Gen., Keith I. Motley and Robert B. Shaw, Deputy Attys. Gen., for plaintiff and respondent.

THE COURT:

Defendant Melvin Meffery Wade (hereafter appellant) appeals from a judgment imposing the death penalty following his conviction of first degree murder (Pen.Code, § 187; all further statutory references are to this code unless otherwise indicated), accompanied by two special circumstances findings (§ 190.2, subds. (a)(14) [murder especially heinous and cruel], (a)(18) [torture murder] ). The appeal is automatic. (§ 1239, subd. (b).) As will appear, we will affirm the conviction of guilt and the torture-murder special circumstance finding, but reverse the heinous murder special circumstance finding and the penalty of death.

I.

A. Procedural History

Trial commenced on February 1, 1982. Following the presentation of the prosecution's case in chief, the trial court permitted appellant to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury convicted appellant of first degree murder (§§ 187, 189) and found both special circumstances to be true.

By stipulation, the issue of appellant's sanity was submitted to the jury on the evidence introduced during the guilt phase. The jury found appellant to be sane at the time of the offense.

Following the penalty phase, the jury returned a verdict of death.

B. Guilt Phase Evidence

Appellant was 24 years old at the time of the offense. In April 1981, appellant and his wife, Irabell "Cookie" Strong, were living in a one-bedroom apartment at the Mission Motel in San Bernardino. Four of Cookie's five children--Penny (age twelve), Joyce (age ten), Alexis (age nine), and Syeeta (age eight)--were also living with them. ¹

According to Cookie, appellant was kind to the children at first, but as time went by he began to abuse them more and more. Appellant was easily upset and was "quick to hit" the children and punish them. He beat them with his fists, hit them with a paddle, made them stand on one foot for extended periods of time, and ordered them to kneel on top of a dresser and take cold showers. He also forced Joyce and Alexis to drink their own urine and mixtures of milk and salt to induce vomiting.

On the morning of April 10th, after accusing 10-year-old Joyce of smelling and not properly washing herself, appellant began punching her with his fists. He proceeded to beat her with a wooden board that had been broken off of the frame of their couch. ²

That afternoon, appellant ordered Joyce to get inside an old army duffle bag. He told Penny to clip the bag shut. Appellant then hoisted the bag into an attic crawl space above the bedroom ceiling. While Joyce was shut away in the crawl space, appellant lectured the family, complaining that they had "turned a sweet and gentle man into a mad man" and had brought humiliation and degradation upon him.

Approximately three to four hours later, Joyce freed herself from the bag and asked if she could come down. As she started to get down, appellant reached for her but fell. He accused her of causing him to fall and grabbed her as she was hanging from the crawl space. He punched her and threw her body against the wall, making a dent.

Appellant then began beating Joyce again with his fists. The beating apparently continued throughout the evening. During this time, appellant consumed a bottle of wine and shouted that he was "Michael the Archangel" and that he would kill Joyce because she was a "devil."

Appellant then told Joyce to take her shirt off and stand up against the wall with her arms extended. He beat her again with the board across the chest, stomach and other parts of her body. Throughout the beatings, Joyce cried and asked appellant to stop, telling him that she was sorry and that she would be good.

At one point during the evening, appellant wrapped a dog leash around Joyce's neck and attempted to hang her from a nail on the wall. When he was unable to do this, he dropped her on the floor. When Joyce did not move, appellant claimed that she was "just putting on" so he kicked her in the side. At that point, she apparently was breathing. Appellant then picked her up and let her body drop to the floor. Appellant then stomped on her stomach.

The motel manager, hearing a disturbance in the apartment occupied by appellant and his family, eventually called the police. Police Officers Tom Germany and Keith Thompson responded to the call at 3:35 a.m. At the apartment, they saw appellant, Cookie and three children. Appellant stated that they were having a family dispute and told one of the children to pack his clothing so he could leave. The police officers stayed for approximately 15 minutes and left after Cookie told them that everything would be all right.

Soon thereafter, the manager again heard a woman yelling and saw Cookie running, pursued by appellant. Appellant struck Cookie in the face and ran away as the manager approached. Cookie asked the manager to call the police because one of her children was badly injured. The manager called the paramedics and the police. Upon their arrival, they found Joyce dead on the bedroom floor.

A subsequent autopsy revealed that Joyce died from cranial, cerebral, abdominal and soft-tissue injuries. The pathologist who performed the autopsy testified that the injuries acted in concert to produce the death, although any one of the major injuries to the head, abdomen or neck could have caused the death.

Moments after the police arrived, appellant returned. He walked through the parking lot with his hands up in the air and said: "Here I am. I'm the one you want. I guess I hit her too hard. I guess I hit her too hard." Appellant was then placed under arrest.

Following his arrest, appellant gave a statement to the police. ³ He asked if Joyce were dead and said that he had killed an innocent person but that he did not mean to hit her so hard. He admitted hitting Joyce with his fists, striking her with a paddle, and hitting her head against the wall. He also admitted putting her in the crawl space to punish her. He denied using a dog leash on her or making her stand against the wall. Appellant said that he loved Joyce, but that she had been a constant discipline problem. He also related that he was under pressure, was seeing a psychiatrist, had been a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and was on welfare.

Four doctors--psychiatrists Ralph Allison, Ethel Chapman and Robert Summerour and clinical psychologist Craig Rath--were called by the defense to testify about appellant's psychiatric background and his mental state at the time of the offense. They testified in great detail about appellant's background. They reported that from the age of three, appellant was physically and sexually abused by his mother's boyfriend, Jack. Jack would also lock appellant in a closet for hours. While in the closet, appellant would talk to an imaginary friend. Gradually, this friend, called "Othello," began to talk back to him.

At the age of 12, appellant began to experience blackouts. He described events in his past which he could not explain, such as finding himself in bed with a 46-year-old woman, who kept calling him "Othello." Throughout the 1970's, appellant received psychological counseling. He also attempted suicide three times.

The defense doctors attempted to determine if appellant was a multiple personality. Each of them supposedly encountered a personality called "Othello." Drs. Rath and Allison also reportedly spoke with personalities named "Joe" and "Michael." When the doctors asked to speak with "Othello," appellant would close his eyes, lower his head and, shortly thereafter, the personality of "Othello" would emerge. ⁴

The doctors described Melvin Wade as mild-mannered, polite, soft-spoken and cooperative. "Othello," on the other hand, was hostile, boisterous, arrogant, vulgar and violent. He supposedly disliked Melvin intensely.

"Othello," also referred to as the "Son of Fire" and "Son of Satan," was born in Greece and fed on "germs of loneliness and despair." "Othello" was the devil's assassin employed by the council of 12 archdemons to kill Cookie. On the day of Joyce's killing, "Othello" had tried to force Cookie to sacrifice herself by threatening Joyce's life. "Othello" explained that he really wanted to kill Cookie but Joyce got in the way. "Othello" was also assigned to kill Melvin.

Melvin's body also contained a personality named "Joe." "Joe" is "Othello's" son and secretary, and a "devil in training" "waiting around for a body to occupy." The doctors described "Joe" as young, weak, friendly, soft-spoken, mischievous and devilish. "Joe" was the personality who surrendered and confessed to the police after the killing. He had apparently "fouled up his part of the assignment."

A fourth personality is "Michael the Archangel." The doctors described "Michael" as angelic, weak and mild. "Michael" holds a rank in the "archangel group" equivalent to "Othello's" rank as a demon and is "Othello's" arch enemy. He tries to help Melvin fight against "Othello." He is strongest on Sundays and was unable to prevent Joyce's death because it occurred on a Saturday, "Othello's" "strongest" day. ⁵ All four defense doctors concluded that appellant suffered from a dissociative disorder. Drs. Rath and Chapman firmly diagnosed him as a multiple personality, unable to harbor malice or to form the intent to kill at the time of the offense. Dr. Summerour diagnosed him as having a probable multiple personality dissociative disorder. Dr. Allison, on the...