Sprouse v. Thaler

• Decision Date: 29 March 2013
• Docket Number: No. 3:10-CV-00317-P,3:10-CV-00317-P
• Parties: KENT WILLIAM SPROUSE, Petitioner, v. RICK THALER, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Texas

KENT WILLIAM SPROUSE, Petitioner,

v.RICK THALER, Director, Texas Department

of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division, Respondent.

No. 3:10-CV-00317-P

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS DALLAS DIVISION

SIGNED: March 29, 2013

(death-penalty case)

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER)

GRANTING MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT)

AND DENYING APPLICATION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS)

Petitioner Kent William Sprouse was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in Ellis County, Texas. State v. Sprouse, No. 26,824 (40th Jud. Dist. Ct., Feb. 26, 2004). The conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal. Sprouse v. State, No. AP-74,933, 2007 WL 283152 (Tex. Crim. App. Jan. 31, 2007). Sprouse then filed an application for writ of habeas corpus in state court which, after being twice remanded for factual development, was denied. Ex parte Sprouse, No. WR-66950-01, 2010 WL 374959 (Tex. Crim. App. Feb. 3, 2010) (denying relief) (per curiam); Ex parte Sprouse, No. WR-66950-01, 2009 WL 335449 (Tex. Crim. App. Feb. 11, 2009)(second remand order); Ex parte Sprouse, No. WR-66950-01, 2007 WL 1839481 (Tex. Crim. App. June 27, 2007) (first remand order).

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, Sprouse has filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus (doc. 16) and supporting memorandum (doc. 17) ("petition") alleging the following grounds for relief:

1. Trial counsel provided ineffective assistance at the guilt phase of trial by:

a. failing to retain and present testimony of an addiction expert,

b. failing to retain and present testimony of a neuropsychologist and conduct a brain scan, and

c. failing to investigate and present testimony regarding Sprouse's birth parents and childhood acquaintances.

2. Trial counsel provided ineffective assistance at the guilt phase of trial by failing to request an instruction on insanity caused by long-term drug use.

3. Trial counsel provided ineffective assistance at the sentencing phase of trial by:

a. lodging a "knee-jerk" objection to the prosecution's videotape recording of Sprouse's psychological interview,

b. failing to investigate and present testimony regarding Sprouse's birth parents and childhood acquaintances,

c. failing to retain and present testimony of a neuropsychologist and conduct a brain scan, and

d. failing to retain and present testimony of an addiction expert.

4. The evidence is legally insufficient to establish future dangerousness.

5. Trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to object when the competency jury was informed of the facts of the offense.

6. The jury instruction on intoxication during the punishment phase violated the Eighth Amendment, and counsel's failure to object or preserve it constituted ineffective assistance of trial counsel and/or appellate counsel.

7. Trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to challenge the constitutionality of the Texas death penalty statute on the ground that it does not provide for meaningful appellate review.

8. Trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to challenge the statutory definition of "mitigating evidence" as unconstitutionally narrow.

9. Trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to challenge the Texas death penalty statute on the grounds that the aggravating factors are vague and do not properly channel the jury's discretion.

10. Trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to challenge the Texas death penalty statute on the ground that it prohibits informing the jury of the consequences of a "hold out" juror.

11. Trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to challenge the Texas death penalty statute on the ground that it does not allocate to the State the burden of proving a lack of mitigating evidence.

Respondent Rick Thaler filed an answer and motion for summary judgment (doc. 45), and Sprouse filed a reply (doc. 51). The Court grants the motion for summary judgment, denies habeas relief, and grants a certificate of appealability as to Issue 6.

I. BACKGROUND FACTS

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ("CCA") summarized the facts of this offense as follows:

On October 6, 2002, [Sprouse] stopped at a gas station and food mart in Ferris, Texas. When he entered the store to make his purchases he had a shotgun hanging from his shoulder. A short time after returning to his vehicle, [Sprouse] fired his weapon in the direction of two men at a pay telephone on the premises. Startled by the shot, another customer, Brad Carroll, asked [Sprouse] if he was "okay." [Sprouse] responded that the gun was not real and asked Carroll if he would help him get his car started. Carroll agreed and pulled his truck in front of [Sprouse]'s car to use booster cables. While [Sprouse] was working on his car, Carroll noticed several boxes of buckshot in [Sprouse]'s vehicle, determined that the gun was real, and decided to leave. As Carroll drove away, he heard another gun shot. When he turned to look, he saw a bleeding man lying on the ground, and [Sprouse] was pointing his shotgun in the man's direction. Just after he left the property, Carroll saw a police officer's car pull into the station. He then heard two more shotgun blasts and pistol fire.

While waiting to get diesel gasoline, Brandon O'Neill saw [Sprouse] working on his vehicle and Pedro Moreno filling his truck with gas. O'Neill noticed that [Sprouse] appeared to speak to Moreno, but Moreno did not respond. [Sprouse] then reached into his vehicle, pulled out a gun, and shot Moreno.

In response to a 911 call, Officer Harry Marvin Steinfeldt, III, dressed in a police uniform and driving a police vehicle, responded to the shooting at the gas station. When he arrived at the station, Steinfeldt first noticed Moreno on the groundand then turned toward [Sprouse]'s car, at which time [Sprouse] shot Steinfeldt twice. Steinfeldt returned fire after he hit the ground. After Steinfeldt collapsed, [Sprouse] walked to the side of the food mart. As [Sprouse] was walking, a second officer, Brad Lindsey, arrived on the scene and managed to take him into custody without further incident.

Moreno and Steinfeldt both died from their injuries. Several witnesses stated that [Sprouse] showed no emotion and was rather nonchalant throughout the incident. In the ambulance on the way to the hospital to receive treatment for the wounds he suffered in the exchange of gunfire, [Sprouse] gave his name and address to the officer accompanying him. [Sprouse] then stated several times without prompting that he had killed an undercover officer at the gas pumps and had shot a second officer in uniform.

The doctor who treated [Sprouse] thought that he was under the influence of drugs when he was admitted, and subsequent testing revealed that [Sprouse] had ingested methamphetamines within the forty-eight hours preceding his arrival at the hospital. A trauma nurse who attended to [Sprouse] at the hospital stated that [Sprouse] was belligerent, swearing, and uncooperative regarding the medical care he was receiving. She also stated that [Sprouse] repeated that "two cops got whacked."

In response to the State's case on guilt, [Sprouse] called several witnesses who testified to his non-violent nature, but who also opined that [Sprouse] was mentally ill. One witness, who claimed to know [Sprouse] "pretty well," testified that he never acted in a violent manner. However, some things that [Sprouse] had told her made her suspect that he was mentally ill long before the instant offense occurred. She stated that [Sprouse] had been hospitalized at one point and had told her that he saw dead people. She also often saw [Sprouse] talking to himself. Another witness, who had known [Sprouse]'s family for forty years and had spent a couple of weeks with them every year around Easter, stated that [Sprouse] behaved very differently from normal during Easter 2002--he had bursts of anger, saw things that did not exist, heard voices giving him commands, and said that everyone was out to get him.

[Sprouse]'s mother testified that [Sprouse]'s behavior began to change around Christmas 2001. She stated that he was frightened and upset, thought that people were talking to him through the television, and thought that the CIA and FBI wanted to kill him. [Sprouse]'s mother was so concerned that, around April or May 2002, she had [Sprouse] committed to a mental hospital when he refused to see a doctor on his own, but he was back out on the street after seventy-two hours. She noted that [Sprouse]'s condition only worsened after that time.

Dr. Jaye Douglas Crowder, a psychiatrist appointed to examine [Sprouse], testified that he interviewed [Sprouse] several times, as well as [Sprouse]'s friends and family members. Crowder testified that [Sprouse] was psychotic each time he was interviewed. He also stated that [Sprouse] had an extensive history of psychotic behavior and delusional thinking. Crowder opined that, on the day of the offense, [Sprouse] was psychotic, paranoid, believed people were persecuting him, and did not understand the wrongfulness of his conduct.

The State called several witnesses to rebut [Sprouse]'s case. Dr. Chris Bell, a surgery resident who treated [Sprouse] at the hospital on October 6, 2002, testified that [Sprouse] admitted using cocaine and amphetamines, and subsequent testing confirmed that amphetamines, methamphetamines, and cannabis were in [Sprouse]'s system. Bell also testified that, while he felt [Sprouse] was under the influence of drugs when he was admitted to the hospital, he did not have the same impression when he talked to [Sprouse] later that week.

Dr. Lisa Clayton, a psychiatrist, testified that she interviewed [Sprouse] and that he exhibited no signs of psychotic behavior during the interview. In fact, [Sprouse] told her that he was not really paranoid. She ultimately concluded that [Sprouse] was not insane at the time of the murders. Clayton did not talk with [Sprouse]'s friends or family members.

Two detention officers at Ellis County

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