St. Pierre v. Walls, 01-3480.
| Decision Date | 23 July 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 01-3480.,01-3480. |
| Parties | Robert ST. PIERRE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Jonathan R. WALLS, Warden, Menard Correctional Center, Respondent-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Prentice H. Marshall, Jr., Scott L. Warner (argued), Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, Chicago, IL, for petitioner-appellant.
James E. Fitzgerald (argued), Cook County State's Attorney, Chicago, IL, for respondent-appellee.
Before FLAUM, Chief Judge, BAUER and DIANE P. WOOD, Circuit Judges.
Robert St. Pierre committed two brutal murders for hire in 1982. St. Pierre was tried and convicted of the murders in Illinois state court in 1983. On direct appeal, the Illinois Supreme Court reversed the conviction and ordered a new trial based on the admission of an improperly obtained confession. People v. St. Pierre, 122 Ill.2d 95, 118 Ill.Dec. 606, 522 N.E.2d 61 (1988). On remand, St. Pierre accepted responsibility and pled guilty to the two murders in 1989, rather than face another trial. St. Pierre then exhausted his state post-conviction remedies, People v. St. Pierre, 146 Ill.2d 494, 167 Ill.Dec. 1029, 588 N.E.2d 1159 (1992), and sought federal habeas relief. The district court dismissed the petition for writ of habeas corpus finding five of the seven claims had been procedurally defaulted and the other two lacked merit. St. Pierre appealed, and we reversed the dismissal of six of the seven claims, concluding they were not procedurally defaulted. St. Pierre v. Cowan, 217 F.3d 939 (7th Cir.2000). On remand, the district court granted the petition in part, as to the sentencing phase, but denied it in all other respects. United States ex rel. St. Pierre v. Cowan, 2001 WL 1001164 (N.D.Ill. Aug.27, 2001). St. Pierre now appeals the partial denial of the petition, arguing that his counsel was ineffective at the pleading stage and that his guilty plea was not made knowingly and voluntarily. The State of Illinois decided not to cross-appeal the partial grant of the petition for the sentencing phase; thus, regardless of the outcome of this appeal, St. Pierre will receive a new sentencing hearing.1 For the following reasons, we affirm the denial of the remainder of the petition for writ of habeas corpus.
At age 19, Robert St. Pierre was involved in a brutal murder for hire scheme in 1982, just three weeks after he was paroled from prison. Subsequently, St. Pierre developed a friendship with a man named Barry Wilson. At the time, Barry Wilson was dating one Jackie Gibons. Wilson became angry with Jackie's parents, Benjamin and Sybil Gibons, because they had taken away Jackie's credit cards and no longer supplied her with cash. This caused Jackie to be unable to supply Wilson with money, and so he devised a scheme to kill her parents.
Originally, Wilson planned on doing the job himself, and had even bought a gun. However, Wilson's attempt at murder was thwarted when he fell through a window at the Gibons' home and abruptly fled. Wilson told Jackie about the attempt and told her to clean up the mess he had made. Instead, Jackie told her parents about Wilson's attempt, and they contacted the police.
A short time later, Jackie and Wilson met with St. Pierre in downtown Chicago to discuss hiring St. Pierre to commit the murders. They discussed the method, timing, and payment in detail. St. Pierre agreed that he would kill Benjamin and Sybil Gibons for $500 up-front for each murder and $2,000 later (although as much as $10,000 was discussed). The plan called for St. Pierre to kill the Gibons at around 6 p.m. that evening.
St. Pierre later met with Jackie Gibons in an alley behind her workplace to verify that she still wanted the murders to take place. Reassured of Jackie's intent, St. Pierre went to the Gibons' home in Skokie, Illinois, at 6:30 p.m. Jackie introduced St. Pierre to her father (Sybil Gibons was not at home), and St. Pierre spoke with Benjamin Gibons for a while. Benjamin Gibons then proceeded into the kitchen and St. Pierre picked up a hammer, followed Benjamin into the kitchen and bludgeoned him to death. After Benjamin was dead, St. Pierre robbed him, taking all the money in his wallet. As planned, Jackie then called Wilson, who came over, and the three cleaned up the bloody kitchen, wrapped Benjamin Gibons's body in a plastic bag, and placed it in the master bedroom.
At 7 p.m., Detective McLaughlin called the home looking for Benjamin Gibons to follow up on investigation of the murder attempt by Wilson. Jackie told the detective that her father was out and that she would have him return the call when he came home. At approximately 7:10 p.m., Sybil Gibons called and asked Jackie to pick her up at the Skokie Swift train station. First, Jackie drove Wilson to a hardware store to buy some plastic bags, sheets, and tape, and to a liquor store. Jackie drove Wilson back to her home, and then went to the station to pick up her mother. Upon arriving back at the home, Jackie let her mother enter the home first. As planned, St. Pierre was waiting in the hallway and he bludgeoned Sybil Gibons to death, hitting her on the head with a hammer as she walked through the front door of her own home. The killers cleaned up the blood and wrapped Sybil Gibons's body in plastic. St. Pierre and Wilson punched a hole in the wall leading to the driveway, so they could load the bodies into the trunk without being seen. St. Pierre was to accompany Wilson to dispose of the bodies in Arkansas (or California, accounts differ) and receive the rest of his money. St. Pierre then went home and waited to take the trip and collect his payment. Instead of picking up St. Pierre, Wilson drove the bodies to New Mexico where he buried them in a shallow grave.
A few days later Sybil Gibons's sister contacted the police because Sybil had not been to work for several days. A detective was dispatched to the Gibons' home and there he discovered evidence of the carnage that was not completely cleaned up by the killers. The detective also found a belt belonging to St. Pierre, bearing his name and prison identification number. The next day the police questioned Jackie Gibons and she gave the police a statement about the murders. The police then apprehended St. Pierre; Wilson was later arrested in Arizona.
St. Pierre was interviewed at the police station and given his Miranda warnings multiple times. Initially he wished to make a statement to the police, however, an assistant state's attorney arrived to question St. Pierre before the police could obtain a statement. A court reporter was present, and from the colloquy reprinted in the Illinois Supreme Court opinion it appears that St. Pierre wished to make a statement, but was confused by the assistant state's attorney rehashing the Miranda issue. After confusing himself and St. Pierre, the state's attorney attempted to reaffirm his understanding that St. Pierre wished to give a statement without a lawyer. St. Pierre responded: "No, no. I don't want a lawyer." Thereafter, St. Pierre gave a statement where he admitted his role in the murders described above.
A full and complete trial, including a mitigation hearing, was held in 1983. Initially, the defense counsel moved to suppress St. Pierre's statement on the grounds that it was taken in violation of his Fifth Amendment rights. The motion was denied. After hearing all the evidence described above, the jury convicted St. Pierre on all counts and sentenced him to death.
Although it appears that St. Pierre actually intended to waive his right to counsel, the Illinois Supreme Court found that the confession was improperly obtained. Despite the overwhelming evidence of guilt, including the testimony of co-defendant Jackie Gibons, the court focused on the effect confessions have on juries and trial strategy, and reversed, concluding that it was not harmless error to admit the confession. The case was then remanded for a new trial.
The new trial began in 1988, before Cook County Circuit Judge Richard Neville. Judge Neville appointed Robert Barasa, a seasoned trial attorney and former Cook County Public Defender,2 as counsel for St. Pierre.3 In the initial proceedings, a very short time after Barasa was appointed counsel,4 St. Pierre announced his intention to plead guilty to the charges.5
St. Pierre's decision to plead guilty after winning on appeal struck Judge Neville as odd and he ordered a competency hearing. St. Pierre's counsel also told the judge his concern that St. Pierre might be pleading improvidently in order to avoid any further incarceration in the unpleasant conditions at Cook County Jail. Counsel for St. Pierre also suggested the examination. Judge Neville's decision was principally motivated by the intent not to create reversible error for failing to explore a potential issue.6
After the examination, Judge Neville methodically went through the consequences of pleading guilty with St. Pierre. Judge Neville emphasized to St. Pierre that he was "again cloaked with the presumption of innocence" and he had a right to a trial in which the government has the burden to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The judge then heard testimony from an impartial psychiatrist, Dr. Albert Stipes, of the Cook County Psychiatric Institute.7 Dr. Albert Stipes had examined St. Pierre and opined that St. Pierre was competent to stand trial.8 Dr. Stipes stated that St. Pierre's "knowledge of the charges against him, as well as the proceedings and the duties of court personnel, are quite sophisticated."9 Counsel for St. Pierre cross-examined Dr. Stipes on the issue of St. Pierre's problems with the living conditions at the Cook County Jail. Before Dr. Stipes stepped down from the witness stand, the judge asked St. Pierre if he had any questions for Dr. Stipes. St. Pierre...
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