Samra v. Price

• Decision Date: 05 September 2014
• Docket Number: 2:07-cv-1962-LSC
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama
• Parties: MICHAEL BRANDON SAMRA, Petitioner, v. CHERYL C. PRICE, Warden, Donaldson Correctional Facility, Respondent.

MICHAEL BRANDON SAMRA, Petitioner, v. CHERYL C. PRICE, Warden, Donaldson Correctional Facility, Respondent.

2:07-cv-1962-LSC

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA SOUTHERN DIVISION

September 5, 2014

MEMORANDUM OF OPINION

Petitioner Michael Brandon Samra ("Samra"), now incarcerated at William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Alabama, has filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Samra challenges the validity of his 1998 capital murder conviction and death sentence on the following grounds:

1) Samra was denied his right to a fair and impartial jury under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution when the state trial court denied his motion for a change of venue due to pretrial publicity;

2) Samra was denied his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of trial and appellate counsel; and

3) Samra's death sentence violates the Eighth and Fourteenth

Amendments to the United States Constitution because his co-defendant's death sentence was vacated due to the fact that he was less than eighteen years old at the time of the murders.

Upon thorough consideration of the entire record and the briefs submitted by the parties, the Court finds that Samra's petition for habeas relief is due to be denied.

I. THE OFFENSE CONDUCT

The evidence at trial established that on March 23, 1997, Samra, then aged 19, and his friend Mark Anthony Duke ("Duke"), then aged 16, killed Duke's father, Randy Duke; Randy Duke's girlfriend, Dedra Hunt; and Dedra Hunt's two daughters, six-year-old Chelisa Hunt and seven-year-old Chelsea Hunt. Samra and Duke committed these murders pursuant to a plan hatched the day before, after Duke and his father had a heated argument because Randy Duke would not allow Duke to use his truck. Following the argument with his father, Duke told three of his friends—Samra, David Collums, and Michael Ellison—that he wanted to kill his father. According to a statement Samra later gave to police, the four friends then obtained two handguns and began developing a plan to murder Randy Duke. Samra stated that the plan included killing the other members of the household (Dedra Hunt and her daughters) because Duke did not want to leave any witnesses alive. Having established a plan, Samra and his three friends drove to Randy Duke's house. Samraand Duke got out of the car and entered the house. Michael Ellison and David Collums then left; however, they agreed to meet up with Duke and Samra later at a prearranged location.

After Samra and Duke entered the house, Duke killed his father by shooting him with a .45 caliber pistol. Meanwhile, Samra aimed his gun at Dedra Hunt and pulled the trigger. Although Samra shot Dedra Hunt in the face, she managed to flee upstairs with her daughters. Dedra Hunt and her daughter Chelisa sought shelter in an upstairs bathroom; Dedra Hunt's other daughter, Chelsea, retreated to a bedroom and attempted to hide under the bed. According to Samra's statement to police, Duke chased Dedra Hunt upstairs, kicked in the bathroom door, and shot Hunt, killing her. Samra and Duke then killed Hunt's two daughters. Because they ran out of bullets, however, they used kitchen knives to kill the girls. After shooting Hunt in the bathroom, Duke murdered six-year-old Chelisa, who was hiding behind the shower curtain, by cutting her throat with a knife. Samra killed seven-year-old Chelsea, who had been hiding under a bed. Despite her pleas for mercy, Duke held Chelsea down and Samra cut her throat. Both girls died as a result of their throats being hacked with a dull knife until, as the trial court found, they "drown[ed] in their own blood." Samra and Mark Duke emptied drawers and displaced items in the home to make itappear that the house had been burglarized; that, too, was part of the plan according to Samra. They then left to dispose of the weapons. Upon being questioned by law enforcement officials, Samra helped locate the weapons and made a statement in which he admitted his involvement in the murders.

II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Samra was charged by indictment with capital murder of two or more persons by one act or pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct, under Ala. Code § 13A-5-40(a)(10) (1975). Trial was held before Judge J. Michael Joiner of the Shelby County Circuit Court ("the trial court"). Richard Bell ("Bell"), an experienced criminal defense attorney who had handled numerous capital cases, was appointed to represent Samra at trial and on appeal.

Prior to trial, Bell moved for an order requiring the State to provide him with notice of the statutory aggravating circumstances set forth in Ala. Code § 13A-5-49 (1975) that the State intended to prove at sentencing that would make Samra eligible for the death penalty. At oral argument on the motion, the prosecutor stated that he was not required to provide such notice and stated that the "aggravating circumstances are very straightforward in the indictment." The trial court denied Samra's motion. Samra contends that it was not until the penalty phase of Samra'strial that Bell was notified that the State would be attempting to prove the existence of one aggravating circumstance in order to establish Samra's eligibility for the death penalty: that the capital offense was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel when compared to other capital offenses.

Bell also filed a motion for change of venue prior to trial, arguing that the media coverage of the case led to undue prejudice against Samra in the makeup of the venire. The trial court held a hearing on the motion, at which point Bell presented articles from local newspapers and video recordings of portions of local newscasts that covered Samra's case. Bell also presented testimony from Dr. Natalie Davis, a media and statistical expert. Dr. Davis had conducted a pre-trial poll of the citizens of Shelby County to determine the extent of the pre-trial coverage by the media and its effect on potential jury members. Bell requested that the trial court hold judgment on the motion until after voir dire. The trial court ultimately denied Samra's motion for a change of venue.

In light of learning that the statement Samra had given to police recounting his involvement in the murders would be admissible at trial, Bell focused on investigating possible mitigating evidence. Bell decided that his two main areas of concern were to investigate Samra's mental condition and the degree of gang influence exerted uponSamra by Duke. Bell requested funds from the court for a mental health expert to evaluate Samra. He did this on an ex parte basis, to protect the confidentiality of his trial strategy. After researching different psychiatrists based on the recommendations of nationally-known defense attorneys, Bell retained Dr. Charles L. Scott to evaluate Samra and to serve as an expert in developing mitigating evidence relating to Samra's mental state. Bell described Dr. Scott as being "the most preeminent forensic psychiatrist I have ever met." In addition, he said that he settled on Dr. Scott because he believed Dr. Scott was immune from being labeled a "defense-oriented" expert. Dr. Scott performed a forensic psychiatric examination of Samra and wrote a 21-page report detailing his findings. Dr. Scott's report showed that Dr. Scott believed Samra capable of committing a similar crime again; that Samra reported that he did not feel bullied by Duke; that Samra understood that what he had done was wrong; and that he acknowledged trying to cover up the crime. Dr. Scott also recommended that Samra be subjected to "a complete neuropsychological evaluation, neurology consultation and brain imaging (such as MRI or PET scanning)."¹ Bell had an MRI performed on Samra, but the findings were negative for any lesions or pathology. Bellinquired about the possibility of having a PET test performed, but after making inquiries, was told that this kind of test was not available in Birmingham. At one point, Bell prepared an affidavit for Dr. Scott's signature that would have accompanied a motion for funds. Although Dr. Scott's report never recommends that a SPECT scan be done, the affidavit requests funds for a SPECT scan and additional neurological testing.² However, the affidavit was never signed nor submitted to the trial court. Bell contacted another expert about conducting neuropsychological testing, but that did not work out for reasons he cannot remember. Bell ultimately decided not to present Dr. Scott's testimony at trial because it would have been harmful to Samra's defense.

Bell's investigation also showed that Samra's grades began to drop when he started hanging out with a bad crowd and that Samra was kicked out of his house by his father because he would not agree to go to a drug rehabilitation clinic. Bell also had access to Samra's school and medical records and to Samra's family and friends who provided details on Samra's background. A forensic evaluation of Samra was also done prior to trial, showing that Samra "fell within the Borderline range of intelligence with a Full Scale IQ of 73."

Upon conclusion of his investigation, and without any evidence that Samra was insane, Bell chose to base his mitigation argument upon the combination of gang influence and Samra's low IQ. Thus, at trial, Bell presented the testimony of Dr. Kathleen Ronan, a clinical psychologist and certified forensic examiner who evaluated Samra at Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility, and Dr. George Twente, a psychiatrist who worked primarily with adolescents and had expertise concerning gangs and their influence on young people. At the penalty phase, Bell presented testimony from Samra's family to show that Samra did not have a violent background and that he was loved.

Dr. Ronan testified at trial that she found that Samra appeared to be functioning within the borderline range of intelligence, meaning between low average intelligence and mild mental retardation,...