Phillips v. Wallace
| Decision Date | 16 September 2014 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 4:04cv1483 TCM |
| Parties | MURLIN R. PHILLIPS, Petitioner, v. IAN WALLACE, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Missouri |
This 28 U.S.C. § 2254 action is before the Court for review and final disposition pursuant to the written consent of the parties. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(c). Also pending are various motions filed by Murlin R. Phillips ("Petitioner").
Criminal Trial Proceedings. Petitioner pled guilty on April 1, 2002, to one count of second degree murder and one count of armed criminal action. (Resp. Ex.2 A, ECF No. 9.) The plea was before Judge J. Max Price in the Circuit Court for Wayne County, Missouri. (Id.) Petitioner had been charged by a felony complaint on October 9, 2000, with one count of first degree murder and one count of armed criminal action. (Resp. Ex. M at 7-8, ECF No.45.) The charges arose from the death of Wayne Limbaugh. (Id.) The range of punishment on count one was "[d]eath; or imprisonment for life without eligibility for probation or parole, or release expect [sic] by act of the governor." (Id. at 7) Three days later, Petitioner was arraigned on those charges. (Id. at 10.) He was then represented by Donald Rhodes. (Id.)
The month after his arraignment, a preliminary hearing was held at which Joan Burton and Phillip Burton testified. (Pet'r Ex. 32, ECF No. 37.) Ms. Burton testified that she and Limbaugh arrived at her house at approximately six o'clock in the evening on October 8, 2000, and were to be joined by another couple. (Id. at 6-8.) She heard someone pull into her driveway and then heard Limbaugh tell her the couple were there and tell the couple to come in. (Id. at 8.) Petitioner came in. (Id.) She and Petitioner had dated for approximately three years; she and Limbaugh had known each other for approximately one month. (Id. at 6, 7, 30.) She had spoken with Petitioner over the telephone after she and Limbaugh had arrived at her house and had told him no one was with her. (Id. at 9.) When Petitioner came into her house, he asked her who the man in the living room was; she replied he was a friend and asked Petitioner to leave. (Id. at 10.) He suddenly did at the same time the couple arrived. (Id.) She, Limbaugh, and the couple ate dinner and played cards until approximately ten o'clock at night. (Id. at 11.) The couple left. (Id.) Limbaugh was getting ready to leave when Petitioner returned. (Id. at 11-12.) She told Limbaugh to lock the front door and storm door. (Id. at 12.) She spoke to Petitioner through the kitchen window, asking him to leave.(Id.) She closed the window, started to go into the living room, and realized Limbaugh had left through the front door. (Id. at 13.) She saw Petitioner punch Limbaugh in the face. (Id.) She turned to get the telephone, heard Limbaugh holler, and then heard a gunshot. (Id.) She started for the front door and was met by Petitioner. (Id. at 14.) He had a gun in his hand. (Id.) He put the gun to her head and threatened to shoot her. (Id. at 15.) She begged him not to. (Id.) Eventually, he and she sat on the bed to talk. (Id.) He heard the telephone ring, heard a neighbor leaving a message on her answering machine, heard the telephone ring again, and shot at the answering machine. (Id. at 16-17.) The bullet missed the machine and went through her night stand and three walls. (Id. at 17.) She tried to talk Petitioner into letting her take him to the hospital. (Id. at 19.) They left the house in her car, drove by an accident scene and saw Limbaugh's truck, and, after hours of driving around, ended up at the Veterans' Administration ("VA") Hospital in St. Louis. (Id. at 19-22, 30-39.)
Over the objection of Mr. Rhodes, the autopsy report of Russell D. Deidiker, M.D., was admitted into evidence "for purposes of the Preliminary Hearing only." (Id. at 42.)
Phillip Burton, a law enforcement officer with the Wayne County Sheriff's Department, testified that he responded to an accident on October 8, 2000; heard en route to the accident that the driver had possibly been shot; and smelt a "moderate" odor of alcohol in the truck involved. (Id. at 44-45, 47.) He was present when Limbaugh's body was autopsied and saw a bullet hole in his back and an exit wound in his left chest. (Id. at 46-47.) Joan Burton (Burton) then testified Limbaugh had drunken beer - she remembered only thatit was more than one - between noon and when they arrived back at her house in the evening and had not drunk any alcohol after that. (Id. at 54-56.)
The judge found probable cause. (Resp. Ex. M at 12.) Petitioner was charged by felony information with the same two counts as before with the same ranges of punishment. (Id. at 13-15.)
Mr. Rhodes moved for disclosure and for a mental examination of Petitioner. (Id. at 16-19.) He also filed a one-sentence request for a change of judge, who was then William Camm Seay. (Id. at 2, 19.) Petitioner's request was granted; his case was transferred to Judge Price. (Id.) Judge Price granted Petitioner's request for a mental examination. (Id. at 20-21.)
Byron C. English, Ph.D., a certified forensic examiner, examined Petitioner and reported in May 2001 his conclusions that Plaintiff was not suffering from a mental disease or defect that would interfere with his capacity to understand the proceedings against him or to assist in his case. (Id. at 22-37.) Also, Petitioner was not suffering then or at the time of the alleged crime from a mental disease or defect which prevented him from knowing or understanding his conduct or from conforming that conduct to the law. (Id. at 37.) Included in Dr. English's report was a summary of Petitioner's version of the incident. (Id. at 24-25.) Remembering the incident as having occurred on October 9, Petitioner recalled driving to Burton's house after seven o'clock that evening and after she hung up on him after telling him not to call her, leaving the house after seeing a couple arrive, returning to the house later thatnight as the couple was leaving, and seeing that the man who had been there earlier was still there. (Id.) Petitioner got out of his truck, taking his pistol with him in the side of his belt "'in case the man caused problems.'" (Id. at 25.) The man was leaving, asked Petitioner what the matter with him was, and was angry. (Id.) Petitioner felt threatened. (Id.) He hit the man in the chin. (Id.) Petitioner's pistol started to slide down his pants. (Id.) Afraid that the pistol was going to fall on the deck, he took it out of his pants. (Id.) Limbaugh saw the pistol, put up his fists, and, rather than swinging at Petitioner, turned to run. (Id.) "[T]he 'gun went off.'" (Id.) Petitioner "indicated he pulled the trigger once." (Id.) Limbaugh was sitting, holding his arm; Petitioner went into Burton's house. (Id.) It was noted later in the report that Petitioner said he could not remember "squeezing the trigger on the gun." (Id. at 36.) It was also noted that Petitioner was aware that he could move for a change of venue if he felt he could not get a fair trial in Wayne County and that Petitioner reported that the bullet that hit Limbaugh was never found. (Id. at 35.) He was not sure if he would be found guilty because he did not know "if the wreck killed [Limbaugh] or not.'" (Id.) Dr. English diagnosed Petitioner with generalized anxiety disorder and, because Petitioner had previously been treated for post-traumatic stress disorder ("PTSD") due to his service in Vietnam, PTSD by history. (Id. at 33-34.)
After two continuances, Petitioner's trial was set for April 1, 2002. (Id. at 2-3.)
On March 25, Jasper N. Edmundson (Edmundson), who had been retained by Petitioner and was then representing him, wrote Petitioner that the prosecutor's offer was to"stand silent" and "allow [Petitioner] to plead to murder in the second degree." (Pet'r Ex. No. 12, ECF No. 37-76.) Edmundson opined that this was "the best possible resolve of the matter." (Id.) He anticipated discussing this with Petitioner within two hours and further informed him that the prosecutor needed an answer by four o'clock that afternoon. (Id.)
On April 1, the prosecutor filed an amended felony information charging Petitioner with one count of second degree murder and one count of armed criminal action. (Resp. Ex. M at 38-40.) The first count read, in relevant part, that Petitioner, in violation of Mo.Rev.Stat. § 565.021, had "intentionally, premeditatedly, with malice aforethought and unlawfully caused the death of Wayne G. Limbaugh, by shooting him, thereby causing him to die on October 8, 2000 . . . ." (Id. at 38.) The range of punishment was "[l]ife imprisonment; or imprisonment for a term not less than (10) years and not to exceed thirty (30) years." (Id.)
As noted above, that same day, Petitioner, represented by Edmundson, appeared before Judge Price. (Resp. Ex. A, ECF No. 9.) Edmundson informed the judge that he had received a copy of the amended information that morning and had had time to go over the information with Petitioner. (Id. at 2.) Petitioner informed the judge that he did not need anymore time to go over the amended charge with Edmundson. (Id.) Petitioner, under oath, testified that his earlier statements about not needing more time and about understanding the ranges of punishment for the two amended counts were the same as if they had been given under oath. (Id. at 3-4.) Petitioner was then questioned about whether he understood he waswaiving various constitutional rights, including the right to call witnesses, to be presumed innocent, and to have a change of venue on "application properly filed." (Id. at 4-8.) Judge Price asked Petitioner about whether any threats or promises had been made to cause him to plead guilty and whether any promises had been made about the sentence other than the plea bargain agreement. (Id. at 8.) Petitioner replied "No" to each question. (Id.) He replied "Yes" in response to the judge's question whether he...
To continue reading
Request your trial