Richardson v. Thompson
| Decision Date | 06 August 2019 |
| Docket Number | No. 16 C 7422,16 C 7422 |
| Parties | ANDRE RICHARDSON, Petitioner, v. SCOTT THOMPSON, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
On July 20, 2016, Andre Richardson filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging his 2005 first-degree murder conviction. R. 1. Richardson filed an amended petition on May 17, 2017. R. 24. Respondent Warden Scott Thompson argues that Richardson's amended petition should be denied because it is untimely and the claims raised are procedurally defaulted and without merit. R. 26; R. 50. In addition to briefing its merits, the parties separately briefed Richardson's motion to equitably toll the time for filing his petition.1 R. 45. For the following reasons, the Court grants Richardson's motion for equitable tolling, but holds its ruling on the merits of his petition pending limited discovery and an evidentiary hearing as outlined below.
On February 9, 2001, Richardson was investigated and arrested regarding the death of his eleven-month-old daughter, Diamond. At the time of his arrest, Richardson was a mentally challenged sixteen-year-old. Richardson does not dispute that his actions resulted in his daughter's death. However, he argues that he did not act with the intent necessary for a first-degree murder conviction. See generally R. 24 and R. 29.
On February 8, 2001, Richardson picked up his daughter from his mother's home so she could stay with him over the weekend. As he bathed Diamond that evening, she slipped and hit her head in the bathtub. Richardson believed Diamond was fine, and they went to sleep after her bath.
The next morning, while eating breakfast, Diamond began eating cereal that had fallen on the ground. Richardson hit her hand to stop her. When Diamond tried eating off the floor again, Richardson bit her. After finishing her breakfast, Diamond's belly was full and poking out. Richardson tried pushing it back in. Diamond threw up some of her food, and Richardson struck her on the ribs. Ten-year-old James Franklin, who was also in the apartment that day, testified that Richardson also hit Diamond on the butt with a coat hanger. Afterwards, Richardson cleaned Diamond up and changed her clothes. Diamond threw up again, and this time Richardson smacked her on the face. Then he placed her in a corner where Richardson orderedher to stay. Richardson spanked Diamond on her diaper when she moved, and later slapped her hand.
Around that time, Diamond fell and hit her head. She got back up, but then lost consciousness. Richardson picked up Diamond, and began shaking her and calling her name, telling her to wake up. While shaking her, Diamond hit her head on a window pane and a window sill. Then, Richardson tried splashing water on Diamond's face, but she still would not wake up. Richardson sent Franklin to get help from a neighbor. The neighbor called 911 after finding Diamond unconscious. Richardson gave Diamond CPR, but she remained unresponsive.
Diamond was taken to the hospital, where she later died. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy determined that her cause of death was multiple injuries due to an assault. Reporting Officer Michal Hayes saw Richardson crying as the ambulance took his daughter away. Richardson told Officer Hayes that Diamond had fallen in the tub the night before and that he had beaten her for throwing up cereal. Officer Hayes drove Richardson to the hospital, where he later arrested Richardson for child abuse.
Richardson was taken to the Second District police station around 3:35 p.m. Sometime between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. that evening, Richardson was physically attacked by a police employee, causing a black eye and swollen face. Richardson told Michael Nolan, a youth investigator assigned to investigate Diamond's case, that he had been struck in the face by lockup personnel. He also told Detectives Edward O'Connell and John Zalatoris about the attack. The police department's Office ofProfessional Standards opened an investigation into the attack. It is unclear from the record how the investigation was resolved.
After the attack, Richardson was interrogated three times in a thirteen-hour period. His interrogations began the evening of his arrest and continued into the following morning. The first interrogation took place around 9:00 p.m. in a small, windowless room. Investigator Nolan read Richardson his Miranda rights. The interrogation was led by Detectives O'Connell and Zalatoris, but Investigator Nolan also asked Richardson questions. In addition to the detectives and Investigator Nolan, Richardson's mother was also present during that first interrogation, which lasted approximately forty-five minutes. Richardson made an inculpatory statement during that time, the details of which are not reflected in the record. Shortly thereafter, the detectives summoned Assistant State's Attorney John Heil.
Around 12:30 a.m., ASA Heil began interrogating Richardson in the same small, windowless room where he had remained since the first interrogation. At this point, Richardson had been in custody for nine hours. He had not slept or received medical attention for his injuries. Richardson's mother, Investigator Nolan, and Detective O'Connell were all present for this second interrogation. ASA Heil advised Richardson of his Miranda rights. He also informed Richardson that Diamond had died from her injuries. Nobody told Richardson (or his mother) that he would be charged with murder. Richardson made a second confession during this interrogation, lasting between thirty and forty-five minutes and describing his interactions with Diamond on the day of her death. According to Heil, Richardson explained how thenight before he had picked her up from her mother's house to babysit her, and that she fell and hit her head. He said that the next morning he gave her cereal and hit her several times when she dropped it on the floor, poked at her stomach afterward causing her to vomit, struck her for vomiting, and struck her numerous times with a plastic hanger and then with a belt for continuing to vomit. He then explained that he put her in the corner and punished her by hitting her when she turned to look at him because he had told her not to, and then told her to go stand against the wall. When she fell, he picked her up and shook her hard, and she hit her head twice—once on the windowsill and once on the window casing. When she was unresponsive, he asked a neighbor to call the police. After this confession Investigator Nolan and Officer O'Connell were excused from the room and ASA Heil had an unrecorded discussion with Richardson. According to ASA Heil, at this time, Richardson told him that the earlier physical attack did not influence his confession, and that since the attack he had been treated fine by those involved in the interrogation process. At the conclusion of this interrogation, ASA Heil explained to Richardson his options for memorializing his statements. Richardson chose to give a videotaped statement. At trial, ASA Heil admitted that during the interrogation he had not kept notes of either his questions or Richardson's responses, and nor had he provided Richardson with a paper and pen or pencil to record what happened.
Richardson's final interrogation and videotaped statement began around 9:30 a.m. that same morning. Richardson had slept 2 or 3 hours before that. Richardson's mother, Investigator Nolan, Detective O'Connell and ASA Heil were all present. Atthe beginning of the videotaped statement, ASA Heil again advised Richardson of his Miranda rights. When asked if he knew what it meant to say that "anything you say can be used against you in a court of law," Richardson answered, "Whatever I say, I will tell and say it in court." In response, ASA Heil repeated Richardson responded "yes," and Heil went on with the interrogation. Richardson confessed a third time on videotape.
Before trial, Richardson's attorney filed a motion to suppress Richardson's confession arguing among other things that Richardson's "physical, mental, educational and/or psychological state, capacity and condition" prevented him from fully understanding his Miranda rights. People v. Richardson, 917 N.E.2d 501, 505 (Ill. 2009) (Richardson II). His attorney, however, did not present any evidence or testimony to support this argument. While Richardson's trial counsel filed several extensions to have Richardson's mental capacity evaluated, an evaluation was never entered into evidence. Additionally, although Richardson's mother was the only witness his attorney called at the motion to suppress hearing, her testimony focused on Richardson's interrogations and the physical attack on Richardson, not on Richardson's mental limitations. The court denied the motion to suppress finding that Richardson's confessions were "freely and voluntarily" given because Richardson was advised of his Miranda rights, acknowledged understanding them, and requested neither medical assistance nor a lawyer following his physical attack at the police station.
As a result, the prosecution played the videotaped recording of Richardson's confession to the jury at trial. In his videotaped statement, Richardson confessed that he: struck Diamond on the hand; bit her on the shoulder and stomach; "karate chopped" her ribs; "whooped" her on the butt with a plastic clothes hanger; hit her with a belt; smacked her in the face; and spanked her on her pamper. Richardson also said that his statement had nothing to do with the attack on him; that he was treated fairly; that he was allowed time alone with his mother; that he ate, slept and had access to a restroom; that no threats or promises were made to him or his mother in exchange for the statement. During...
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