State v. Capano, Def. ID# 9711006198 (R-1) (DE 3/9/2005)

Decision Date09 March 2005
Docket NumberDef. ID# 9711006198 (R-1).
PartiesSTATE OF DELAWARE v. THOMAS J. CAPANO.
CourtSupreme Court of Delaware

Joseph M. Bernstein, Esquire, Wilmington, DE and David A. Ruhnke, Esquire, Ruhnke and Barrett, Montclair, N.J., attorneys for defendant Thomas J. Capano.

Loren C. Myers, Esquire, Department of Justice, Wilmington, DE, and Ferris W. Wharton, Esquire, U.S. Attorney's Office, Wilmington, DE, attorneys for the State of Delaware.

Graves, J Pending before the Court is the motion for postconviction relief which defendant Thomas J. Capano ("defendant" or "Capano") has filed pursuant to Superior Court Criminal Rule 61 ("Rule 61"). This is the Court's decision on defendant's motion.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Following a lengthy jury trial, Capano was found guilty of murder in the first degree for the murder of Anne Marie Fahey. Following a penalty hearing, the jury, by a vote of 11 to 1, found beyond a reasonable doubt the statutory aggravating circumstance that the murder was premeditated and the result of substantial planning. The jury recommended, by a vote of 10 to 2, that the trial judge find the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances. The trial judge, William Swain Lee,1 imposed a sentence of death on March 16, 1999.

The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence on August 10, 2001. Capano v. State, 781 A.2d 556, 669 (Del. 2001) ("Capano II").2 Defendant sought certiorari to the United States Supreme Court. That Court held defendant's petition and did not act upon it until it released its decision in Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002). It then denied the petition. Capano v. Delaware, 536 U.S. 958 (2002). The case was returned to Delaware. Subsequently, defendant filed his present motion for postconviction relief. Defendant's arguments fell into two categories which were briefed separately and likewise, are decided in two parts of this decision. Part One will deal with all issues involving claims that defendant's trial counsel were ineffective. Part Two deals with claims that the imposition of the death penalty is unconstitutional as to the facts and events underlying his conviction and sentence.

This Court has had the benefit of evidentiary hearings and substantial briefing which the parties completed on December 17, 2004.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

No point exists to recite the entire factual basis of the State's case and defendant's case, as the Delaware Supreme Court provided a complete accounting of the relevant facts in its decision affirming the conviction and sentence of defendant for the intentional murder of Ms. Fahey. I adopt the Supreme Court's factual recitation herein.

PART ONE — INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL

Originally defendant based his ineffective assistance of counsel claims on thirty-six (36) separate grounds. The Court, noting the conclusory pleadings, directed that the claims be reconstituted under the requirement that they contain substantive allegations together with allegations of prejudice. On August 4, 2003, defendant filed his amended motion for postconviction relief as to ineffective assistance of counsel. He raised eleven (11) claims, with some claims involving multiple issues.

THE STRICKLAND STANDARD

Shortly after Ms. Fahey's disappearance, Capano began to assemble his defense team. Ultimately, he chose four attorneys to represent him at trial. Each was known to defendant and each was a seasoned criminal defense attorney.

Defendant's allegations against these attorneys are based on claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. Therefore, defendant has the burden of establishing (i) a deficient performance by his defense team (ii) which actually caused defendant prejudice. Strickland v Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) ("Strickland"). Deficient performance means that the attorneys' representation of Capano fell below an objective standard of reasonableness. Id. at 688. In considering post-trial attacks on counsel, Strickland cautions judges to review the counsels' performances from the defense counsels' perspective at the time decisions were being made. Id. at 689. Second guessing or "Monday morning quarterbacking" should be avoided. Id.

A finding of counsels' deficient performance needs to be coupled with a showing of actual prejudice. Actual prejudice is not potential or conceivable prejudice. "Defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome." Id. at 694. Strickland establishes that "[t]he benchmark for judging any claim of ineffectiveness must be whether counsel's conduct so undermined the proper functioning of the adversarial process that the trial cannot be relied upon as having produced a just result." Id. at 686.

An additional and notable aspect of this case is that Capano is not the normal defense client. He was a successful attorney. He was active in all phases of the decision-making process.3 The testimony establishes that he was a strong-willed person who was very involved in his case. His attorneys all testified that at times there were difficulties in representing Capano due to differences of opinion between them and Capano as to the approach the defense should take on some issues. Regardless of the friction which may have arisen in having an attorney as a client and having that client actively participating in his defense, including strategy and tactics, I do not find any of Capano's attorneys to have been ineffective.

PROCEDURAL BARS

Generally, claims of ineffective assistance of counsel are raised for the first time in a postconviction motion filed pursuant to Rule 61 following a direct appeal as to the trial outcome. Therefore, the procedural bars of Rule 61 would not be applicable. But if issues raised in the Rule 61 motion could have been raised on the direct appeal, but were not, then the defendant must comply with Rule 61 (i)(3) by showing cause for not raising the issue on appeal and actual prejudice. If any issue is procedurally barred it will be addressed in the consideration of that issue.

CLAIM 1

Defendant alleges his attorneys were ineffective by (a) failing to renew a request for a change of venue following jury selection, (b) failing to seek a gag order, and (c) failing to request sequestration of the jury for the entire trial.

Prior to jury selection, defense counsel made a unique change of venue request. Defense counsel asked that the case be tried in another state. In denying the change of venue motion, Judge Lee noted "if the atmosphere created by media coverage has become so pervasive that it is impossible to obtain an appropriate number of qualified jurors and alternates that will become apparent at the time of jury selection." There was no application for either a gag order or for jury sequestration during the trial.

Based upon the Rule 61(g) affidavits and the hearing testimony, I am satisfied that these claims fail.

The defense engaged an expert to poll the citizens of Sussex, Kent and New Castle Counties to gauge the public attitude concerning this case and Capano individually. The results of this inquiry yielded no significant difference between the counties as to perceptions about Capano. Additionally, Capano expressed a preference to have the case tried in New Castle County. These results, as well as Capano's preference of New Castle County as a forum, were reasonable factors to consider in accepting New Castle County, Delaware as a trial forum.

During jury selection, Capano was involved actively in the selection of jurors. Capano expressed a strong desire to select young women as jurors. His attorneys disagreed with the tactic. The defense team believed it was unwise to seat young women on the jury since the victim of the alleged murder was a young woman. Nevertheless, Capano thought having young women would be helpful and that Capano and his defense might persuade them. Regardless of these differences, a jury and alternates were selected. Counsel reported that Capano was "happy" with the jury. Venue was no longer an issue.

I find, based upon the thorough voir dire conducted by the Court and the fact that the Court was able to obtain an impartial jury, that if the venue motion had been renewed, it would have been denied.

I find the decision not to seek a change of venue to Kent or Sussex County to have been reasonable based on the information counsel had available to them and defendant's own preference. I find that defendant has not established that the New Castle County venue prejudiced him.

Capano's defense team did not seek a gag order at any point in the proceedings. I find Capano's objection to this decision to be disingenuous. Capano directed his attorneys to generate publicity so that his version of events would reach the public and essentially put his "spin" on the story. Counsel followed his directions.

No evidence exists that a publicity battle ensued with the State that prejudiced defendant's rights. It would appear the State did not get drawn into a media campaign. The trial judge carefully warned the jury to avoid media coverage of the trial and methodically quizzed the jury about any potential media influence. Defendant has not established that his attorneys should have sought a "gag" order and he has not established prejudice.

Finally, I do not fault trial counsel for not seeking to sequester the jury for the entire trial, which was forecast to consume several months' time and the holiday season. Sequestering a jury for such a lengthy period of time would have been unreasonable. The trial judge regularly monitored the jury. Defendant has not shown any prejudice arising from the jury not being sequestered during the...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT