Perry v. Lockhart, No. PB-C-83-275.
| Court | United States District Courts. 8th Circuit. United States State District Court of Eastern District of Arkansas |
| Writing for the Court | EISELE |
| Citation | 656 F. Supp. 46 |
| Parties | Eugene Wallace PERRY v. A.L. LOCKHART, Director Arkansas Department of Correction. |
| Docket Number | No. PB-C-83-275. |
| Decision Date | 28 August 1986 |
656 F. Supp. 46
Eugene Wallace PERRY
v.
A.L. LOCKHART, Director Arkansas Department of Correction.
No. PB-C-83-275.
United States District Court, E.D. Arkansas, Pine Bluff Division.
August 28, 1986.
Jeff Rosenzweig, Little Rock, Ark., for petitioner.
Jack Gillean, Asst. Atty. Gen., Steve Clark, Atty. Gen., Little Rock, Ark., for respondent.
ORDER
EISELE, Chief Judge.
The Court has previously affirmed the petitioner's capital murder conviction and denied all of his habeas corpus claims except that dealing with the so called "Collins issue." It thus remains for the Court to rule upon this lone outstanding issue regarding the validity of the death sentence imposed upon petitioner.
By another order entered this day in the case of Singleton v. Lockhart, 653 F.Supp. 1114 (D.C.Ark.1986), the Court has analyzed at some length the Eighth Circuit decision in Collins v. Lockhart, 754 F.2d 258 (8th Cir.1985). It is the Court's conclusion that Collins controls this case as well as Singleton and requires the Court to find that the death sentence imposed on this petitioner is defective.
Eugene Wallace Perry was convicted in 1981 of capital felony murder under the appropriate Arkansas statute.1 § 41-1501(1)(a). As was the case with Singleton and Collins, the underlying felony for Perry's conviction was robbery. After convicting Perry, the jury then heard evidence of aggravating and mitigating circumstances in order to determine whether it would sentence the petitioner to life without parole or to death.
During the sentencing phase, the prosecutor put into evidence documentation of a 1975 Alabama conviction of Perry for armed robbery. The defendant offered no evidence of any mitigating circumstances. Before the jury, the prosecutor argued that there were two aggravating circumstances to justify imposition of the death sentence. In addition to the prior violent crime, supported by the evidence of the 1975 Alabama conviction, the prosecutor argued "pecuniary gain:"
"Now in this case there are two aggravating circumstances. One, previous felony conviction of robbery in 1975 where he got ten years for it. He is back out here committing another one in September of '80. And two, pecuniary gain. Well obviously we have got pecuniary
gain in this thing, because you have got a hundred thousand dollar loss of jewelry."
T. at 3253
The jury found that both of these aggravating circumstances existed beyond a reasonable doubt; that there were no mitigating circumstances; that the aggravating circumstances justified imposition of the death sentence; and that Perry should be executed.
The prosecutor's presumption that the pecuniary gain circumstance had to be obvious to the jury, since the jurors had already found that the defendant committed robbery, goes...
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Singleton v. Lockhart, No. PB-C-82-165.
...notes that the facts present in Poland more closely resemble the situation in this Court's recently decided case of Perry v. Lockhart, 656 F.Supp. 46, also decided on August 28, 1986, wherein the Court invalidated a death sentence because one of the three aggravating factors relied on was i......
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Engberg v. Meyer, No. 87-15
...Court, Teton County, 696 P.2d 54 (Wyo.1985), cert. denied 474 U.S. 865, 106 S.Ct. 187, 88 L.Ed.2d 155 (1985). See also Perry v. Lockhart, 656 F.Supp. 46, 48 (E.D.Ark.1986) ("the 'novelty' of the pecuniary gain argument at the time of Perry's trial was sufficient to provide 'cause' for his f......
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Perry v. Lockhart, Nos. 86-2262
...sentence was invalid under Collins and ordered that the State either resentence Perry or reduce his sentence to life without parole. 656 F.Supp. 46 On appeal, Perry raises the following contentions: (1) that he was deprived of his constitutional rights under the compulsory process clause of......
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Singleton v. Lockhart, PB-C-82-165.
...notes that the facts present in Poland more closely resemble the situation in this Court's recently decided case of Perry v. Lockhart, 656 F.Supp. 46, also decided on August 28, 1986, wherein the Court invalidated a death sentence because one of the three aggravating factors relied on was i......
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Engberg v. Meyer, 87-15
...Court, Teton County, 696 P.2d 54 (Wyo.1985), cert. denied 474 U.S. 865, 106 S.Ct. 187, 88 L.Ed.2d 155 (1985). See also Perry v. Lockhart, 656 F.Supp. 46, 48 (E.D.Ark.1986) ("the 'novelty' of the pecuniary gain argument at the time of Perry's trial was sufficient to provide 'cause' for his f......
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Perry v. Lockhart, s. 86-2262
...sentence was invalid under Collins and ordered that the State either resentence Perry or reduce his sentence to life without parole. 656 F.Supp. 46 On appeal, Perry raises the following contentions: (1) that he was deprived of his constitutional rights under the compulsory process clause of......