Smith v. Campbell
| Decision Date | 03 August 2015 |
| Docket Number | No. 14-10721,14-10721 |
| Parties | JOSEPH CLIFTON SMITH, Petitioner-Appellant, v. DONAL CAMPBELL, COMMISSIONER KIM TOBIAS THOMAS, Respondents-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
D.C. Docket No. 1:05-cv-00474-CG-M
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
Before TJOFLAT, HULL and WILSON, Circuit Judges.
Petitioner Joseph Clifton Smith, a death-row inmate, appeals the district court's denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas corpus petition. This appeal involves only Smith's Atkins claim—that he is intellectually disabled and cannot be executed under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.1 See Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 122 S. Ct. 2242 (2002). The Alabama state courts denied Smith's Atkins claim without an evidentiary hearing, as did the district court. We review the history of Smith's case and then the narrow issue in this appeal.
On Friday, November 21, 1997, Smith was released from a state prison and transferred to a community-custody program to complete the remainder of his 10-year sentence for his burglary and theft convictions. Smith v. State ("Smith I"), 795 So. 2d 788, 796, 797 n.1 (Ala. Crim. App. 2000). Two days after his release from prison, Smith murdered the victim Durk Van Dam on November 23, 1997.
Police discovered Van Dam's body near his pick-up truck in an isolated area in southern Mobile County. Van Dam suffered approximately 35 separate, distinct exterior injuries. His head, face, and torso were beaten; his corpse revealed anumber of blunt force injuries; and his body was mutilated by a saw or a saw-like device. Van Dam was robbed of $150 in cash and the boots off his feet. His tools were stolen from his pickup truck, which was mired in mud.
On the day Van Dam's body was discovered, two police officers interviewed Smith, who confessed. In his first statement to the police, Smith admitted that he was at the scene when Van Dam was beaten and robbed but claimed that he was merely a bystander as Larry Reid beat Van Dam. See id. at 796.
When police questioned Reid, Smith repeatedly knocked on the interrogation-room door and requested to speak with the officer who took his first statement. Id. Smith gave a second statement, admitting he participated in the homicide but denying an intent to kill Van Dam. See id.
In his second statement, Smith said that he, Reid, and Van Dam left a motel in Van Dam's red pick-up truck on the evening of November 23, 1997. Id. Van Dam was drinking and driving the truck, and Reid directed Van Dam to an isolated location. Id. Smith asserted that, once they arrived at the location, Reid began hitting Van Dam. Reid kicked Van Dam in the face, at which point Smith thought Van Dam was dead. Id. However, Van Dam got up, and Smith hit him on the head with his fist, kicked him in the ribs several times, threw a handsaw at him,and might have hit him with a hammer. Id. Smith wasn't entirely sure if he hit Van Dam with a hammer because he suffers from blackouts. Id.
Smith stated that Reid got a power saw from Van Dam's truck and ran the saw against Van Dam's neck. Id. Smith said he held down Van Dam while Reid took money from Van Dam's pockets. Id. Reid kept $100, and Smith kept $40. Id. Toward the end, Smith kicked Van Dam in the ribs several times. Van Dam was alive at that point, Smith said, but Reid subsequently hit the victim in the head several times with boards and sticks and dragged a mattress on top of him. Smith and Reid left, and Smith thought Van Dam was alive as they walked away.
Smith and Reid attempted to steal Van Dam's truck, but it was stuck in the mud. Id. Smith admitted to taking Van Dam's boots and tools. Id. Smith and Reid discussed what to do with Van Dam's body. Id. Smith suggested taking it to a nearby lake, but they left the body under a mattress near Van Dam's truck. Id.
On May 22, 1998, a Mobile County grand jury indicted Smith for capital murder, charging that Smith intentionally killed Van Dam during a first-degree robbery. The case went to trial.
At trial, Dr. Julia Goodin, a forensic pathologist, testified that Van Dam died as a result of 35 different blunt-force injuries to his body. Id. Dr. Goodin found marks on Van Dam's neck, shoulder, and back that were consistent with Van Dambeing cut by a saw. Id. Van Dam had a large hemorrhage beneath his scalp, brain swelling, multiple rib fractures, a collapsed lung, abrasions to his head and knees, and defensive wounds on his hands. Id. The most immediate cause of death was probably Van Dam's multiple rib fractures, which caused one lung to collapse. Id.
The prosecution introduced Smith's two statements to police and called Russell Harmon, who saw Smith on the day of the murder at a motel in Mobile County. See id. at 796-97. Harmon testified that Smith told him that Smith and Reid were going to rob Van Dam, and Smith asked if Harmon wanted to join them. See id. at 797. Harmon declined. Id. When Smith returned to the motel later that night, Smith admitted to Harmon that he participated in the beating of Van Dam and cut Van Dam with a saw before fleeing the crime scene—and leaving Van Dam for dead. Id. Smith told Harmon that he hid Van Dam's tools on the side of a road, and Smith asked Harmon to retrieve them. Harmon did. Smith sold the tools for $200. Id.
Joey Warner, an employee of a pawnshop, testified that (1) on November 23, 1997, Smith pawned several tools, including saws, drills, and a router; (2) Smith was given $200 for the tools; and (3) Smith showed his Alabama Department of Corrections identification card to complete the transaction. Id.
Another witness, Melissa Arthurs, testified that she saw Smith on the night Van Dam disappeared and noticed blood on Smith's shirt. Id. Smith told Arthursthat he hit, cut, and stabbed Van Dam in the back; he and Reid robbed Van Dam; and Smith would have taken Van Dam's truck had it not been stuck in the mud.2 See id.
On September 16, 1998, the jury found Smith guilty of capital murder. The penalty phase began the next day.
In the penalty phase, the State presented evidence that established three statutory aggravating factors: (1) Smith committed the capital offense while under a sentence of imprisonment, see Ala. Code § 13A-5-49(1); (2) Smith committed the capital offense while engaged in the commission of a robbery, see id. § 13A-5-49(4); and (3) the murder of Van Dam was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, see id. § 13A-5-49(8).
As to the first aggravating factor, the State called Betty Teague, the director of the Alabama Department of Corrections' central records office. Teague testified that Smith was in the custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections and placed on "prediscretionary leave" on November 21, 1997—two days before Van Dam's murder. Smith was still under a sentence of imprisonment during that leave, including the date of Van Dam's murder.
As to the second aggravating factor, the trial judge noted the jury's verdict established that the capital offense was committed during the course of a robbery.
As to the third aggravating factor of a heinous murder, the State recounted the trial evidence, including (1) Smith's own statements to the police; (2) Smith's actions kicking and beating the victim; and (3) Dr. Goodin's testimony about the victim's injuries, including eight broken ribs and many internal and external injuries caused by 35 to 45 blows. The State then rested.
As part of his penalty-phase defense, Smith called a number of witnesses to establish mitigating circumstances, including that the "offense was committed while the defendant was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance." See id. § 13A-5-51(2).
Smith first called his mother, Glenda Kay Smith ("Glenda Kay"). Glenda Kay testified that Smith's father, Leo Charles Smith ("Leo Charles") got drunk almost every day and verbally and physically abused Smith. Leo Charles would "try to whoop" Smith and his brothers "with fan belts or water hoses."
When Smith was about 10 years old, Glenda Kay divorced Leo Charles, and she subsequently married Hollis Luker ("Luker"). Luker got drunk three or four times a week and drank with Smith when Smith was about 16 years old. Smith andLuker would fight, and Luker once injured Smith's ear by hitting him in the head with a bat-like object.
According to Glenda Kay, Smith had educational problems, including dyslexia. Smith was in special education classes and classes for students with "emotional conflicts."3
Smith next called Dr. James F. Chudy ("Dr. Chudy"), a clinical psychologist who met with Smith three times, reviewed his school and jail records, and evaluated Smith. Dr. Chudy described Smith's childhood as "at the least, . . . very abusive, probably tormenting at times, [and] extremely unstable."
After administering a Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) test,4 Dr. Chudy found Smith had a "full scale IQ of 72, which placed him at the third percentile in comparison to the general population." Dr. Chudy testified that Dr. Chudy testified that his findings about Smith's intellect were consistent with the school records Dr.Chudy examined and that "all the scores are very much the same." The defense introduced school records, which indicated Smith at age 12 obtained IQ scores of 74 and 75.
Dr. Chudy also testified that ...
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