Reams v. State
| Decision Date | 08 November 2018 |
| Docket Number | No. CR-17-654,CR-17-654 |
| Citation | 560 S.W.3d 441 |
| Parties | Kenneth REAMS, Appellant/Cross-Appellee v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee/Cross-Appellant |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
O'Melveny & Myers LLP (New York), by: Danielle C. Gray, pro hac vice, amicus curiae for National Association for Public Defense.
Leslie Rutledge, Att'y Gen., by: David Raupp, Sr. Ass't Att'y Gen.; and Kent G. Holt, Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellee.
A Jefferson County Circuit Court jury found appellant, Kenneth Reams, guilty of capital murder. Reams was sentenced to death for his capital-murder conviction. We affirmed his conviction and sentence in Reams v. State , 322 Ark. 336, 909 S.W.2d 324 (1995). Subsequently, Reams filed an unverified petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Rule 37 of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure. The circuit court denied Reams's petition in part and granted it in part. Reams now brings this appeal, and the State has filed a cross-appeal. Our jurisdiction is pursuant to Rule 37 and Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 1-2(a)(8).
The following facts are pertinent to this appeal. Reams's conviction and sentence stem from the May 5, 1993 shooting death of Gary Turner. As recounted by this court on direct appeal, Reams, charged as an accomplice of Alford Goodwin's in the murder of Turner, testified that he and Goodwin planned to commit aggravated robbery at an ATM in Pine Bluff because Goodwin "needed the money for graduation." Reams admitted that he and Goodwin, who was armed with a .32 revolver, waited at a local ATM for someone to drive up so they could rob them. Reams further testified that he and Goodwin approached Turner's vehicle at the ATM and that Goodwin shot Turner. On December 1, 1993, prior to Reams's trial, Goodwin pleaded guilty to capital murder and was sentenced to life without parole. After a three-day trial, Reams was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death on December 15, 1993.
On January 31, 1997, Reams filed his petition for postconviction relief under Rule 37 of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure. In his petition, Reams asserted 14 claims: (1) the trial court failed to move Reams's case to a jurisdiction that was not contaminated with prejudicial publicity and gossip; (2) Reams's arrest by Pine Bluff authorities occurred in the absence of sufficient and reliable information; (3) evidence illegally seized from Reams's home was admitted at his trial; (4) Reams's custodial statements were improperly admitted because they were involuntary; (5) Reams's involvement in several unrelated crimes was improperly admitted; (6) prejudicial hearsay was improperly admitted at his trial; (7) the jury system in Jefferson County systematically underrepresented African American citizens in trial jury venires, including the venire at Reams's trial; (8) in this mixed-race case, the prosecution exercised its peremptory challenges in a racially discriminatory manner; (9) the prosecution failed to prove the extreme-indifference element of capital murder; (10) the trial court failed to instruct the jury on what constitutes "extreme indifference" under the capital-murder statute; (11) Reams is ineligible for the death penalty due to his intellectual disability; (12) the jury's reliance on the pecuniary-gain aggravating circumstance was an improper "double counting" on that circumstance; (13) the jury improperly failed to consider and weigh the unrebutted mitigating evidence that Reams was mentally retarded and only eighteen years old at the time of the offense; and (14) Reams received ineffective assistance of counsel both at trial and on appeal. On March 28, 1997, the State filed its response to Reams's Rule 37 petition, asserting that Reams's only cognizable claim was his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim. However, the State argued that his ineffective-assistance claim was improperly raised in his petition.
On October 13, 2006, Reams filed his supplement and memorandum of law in support of his previously filed Rule 37 petition, which provided additional details about the claims Reams had raised in his 1997 petition and added a new claim regarding execution by lethal injection. The State responded on November 13, 2006. On December 29, 2006, Reams replied and requested summary judgment on his intellectual-disability claim. On April 25, 2007, the circuit court denied Reams's motion for summary judgment. The circuit court also noted that Rule 37(d) of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure directs the clerk not to accept for filing any petition that fails to comply with the affidavit requirement of subsection (c). However, the circuit court acknowledged that, despite this mandatory language, the clerk "has accepted and filed what seems to be an unverified Petition." Reams verified his petition on May 31, 2007.
After a hearing held on May 1, 2007, the circuit court entered a written order on May 31, 2007. The order scheduled an evidentiary hearing on Reams's Rule 37 petition to begin on August 20, 2007. The circuit court ruled that several of Reams's claims were not cognizable under Rule 37 and limited the evidentiary hearing to Reams's claim of mental retardation and ineffective assistance of counsel.
The evidentiary hearing on Reams's Rule 37 petition commenced on August 20, 2007, and concluded on January 5, 2015.1 At the hearing, Maxie Kizer, Reams's trial counsel, testified that in 1993 he was a part-time public defender and also had a part-time civil practice. Kizer testified that his caseload covered "sixty-percent of the filings in Jefferson County where people ended up ... being found indigent and afforded an attorney." Kizer testified that he has handled approximately eight to ten death-penalty cases but stated, "I can't remember ... This may have been my first one, to tell you the truth." Kizer testified that he did not start "the basic stuff" for Reams's trial until November 1993, or one month before Reams's trial. Kizer testified that "[his] theory of defense is that they couldn't prove who shot the individual who was shot." When asked whether Kizer sought to interview witnesses to support the non-triggerman theory, Kizer testified that Alford Goodwin was represented by counsel. Kizer further testified that he did not recall whether he had approached counsel for Goodwin but that he did not have a good working relationship with Goodwin's counsel.
Gene McKissic, a Jefferson County attorney who previously worked in the prosecutor's office, testified about the custom and practice of racial discrimination in the jury selection. Specifically, McKissic testified that while he was a prosecutor in Jefferson County, it was the practice of the prosecutor's office to exercise peremptory strikes to exclude African Americans from juries. McKissic testified that, to avoid the appearance of racism, it was common to select at least one African American juror who the prosecutors knew would vote a particular way.
Jesse Kearney, another Jefferson County attorney and former circuit court judge, testified regarding jury composition and the juror-selection process in Jefferson County. Kearney testified that in the courtrooms of the two Caucasian judges with Caucasian bailiffs, African Americans were underrepresented on venires. However, in the courtroom of the only African American judge with an African American bailiff, the jury pool more closely reflected a fair cross-section of Jefferson County's population. Kearney testified that
Goodwin, Reams's codefendant testified, that on May 5, 1993, he shot Turner. Goodwin testified that before Turner's arrival at the ATM, Reams gave Goodwin the gun. Originally, the plan was for Goodwin to go to the passenger side and try to turn the vehicle off, and Reams was supposed to go the driver's side and hold the driver up with the gun. However, Goodwin testified that when a big truck pulled up, "I told [Reams] that he was too little because he ain't going to be able to reach the window, so give me the gun." Goodwin testified that, based on their prior plans, once Goodwin gained possession of the gun, Reams automatically knew he would need to position himself by the passenger-side door. Goodwin testified that when Turner pulled up to the ATM, Goodwin went around to the driver's side and Reams went around to the passenger side. When Goodwin walked up, Turner looked at Goodwin and asked, "What the hell you want?" At this point, Turner did not see Reams entering from the passenger side. As Reams got into Turner's truck, Turner turned his head toward Reams, and Goodwin shot him. Goodwin testified that he initially told police that he did not shoot Turner and also sent letters to Turner's family stating that he did not shoot Turner. Goodwin's August 14, 1996 affidavit and a transcribed interview from the same day were entered into evidence. In his 1996 interview and affidavit, Goodwin admitted that he had shot Turner. Goodwin further stated that his lawyer never told him that Kizer was trying to get in touch with him about what happened on May 5, 1993. Further, no one asked Goodwin to testify in Reams's case. Goodwin testified that if he had been asked to testify in 1993, he would like to think that he would have testified that he was the shooter. However, he testified that he was a different person back then. On cross-examination, Goodwin testified that he was not asked to testify, but if he had been asked, he would have testified. Goodwin further testified, "Just like I told [Reams's] legal team, I was such a different...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Dennis v. State
...Id. Additionally, conclusory statements that counsel was ineffective cannot be the basis for postconviction relief. Reams v. State , 2018 Ark. 324, 560 S.W.3d 441. IV. Points for Reversal3 A. Trial Counsel was Ineffective for Failing to Seek a Continuance and Failing to Impeach Witnesses an......
-
Johnson v. State
...evidence during the sentencing phase of a capital-murder trial can constitute ineffective assistance of counsel. Reams v. State , 2018 Ark. 324, 560 S.W.3d 441. To demonstrate prejudice, the petitioner is required to establish that there was a reasonable probability that, had counsel perfor......
-
Travelers Indem. Co. v. Bd. of Trs. of the Univ. of Ark.
...listed in Rule 2(a). Rather, we have reviewed such rulings only in the context of an appeal from a final order. E.g. , Reams v. State , 2018 Ark. 324, 560 S.W.3d 441 ; Richardson v. Williams , 327 Ark. 156, 936 S.W.2d 752 (1997) ; Mitchell v. State , 323 Ark. 116, 913 S.W.2d 264 (1996). Whi......
-
Reynolds v. State
...witness, provide a summary of the testimony, and establish that the testimony would have been admissible into evidence. Reams v. State , 2018 Ark. 324, 560 S.W.3d 441. To demonstrate prejudice, the petitioner is required to establish that there was a reasonable probability that, had counsel......