State v. Davis

Citation951 N.W.2d 8
Decision Date13 November 2020
Docket NumberNo. 19-0214,19-0214
Parties STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Gregory Michael DAVIS, Appellant.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Iowa

Alfredo Parrish (argued) and Andrew Dunn of Parrish Kruidenier Dunn Boles Gribble Gentry Brown & Bergmann L.L.P., Des Moines, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Louis S. Sloven (argued), Assistant Attorney General, Jerry A. Vander Sanden, County Attorney, and Elena S. Wolford, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.

WATERMAN, Justice.

The defendant, who had a history of substance abuse and mental illness, killed his girlfriend by stabbing her twenty-six times. A jury convicted him of first-degree murder. In this appeal, we must decide whether a new trial is required because the marshaling instruction for that charge failed to cross-reference the defendant's insanity defense. The defendant's trial counsel failed to object to that omission, even though the marshaling instructions for nine lesser included offenses cross-referenced the insanity defense. New counsel appealed, arguing the defendant's trial counsel provided ineffective representation. We transferred the case to the court of appeals, which affirmed his conviction, stating, "While we encourage trial courts in cases like this to include a reference to an insanity defense in the marshaling instructions, [the defendant] has not shown the result would be different but for the omission." A dissenting judge concluded the inconsistent cross-referencing likely confused the jury and should require a new trial. We granted the defendant's application for further review.

On our review, we determine that this instructional error requires a new trial. Trial counsel breached an essential duty by failing to object. The jury instructions were materially misleading without the cross-reference to the insanity defense in the marshaling instruction for first-degree murder, when that cross-reference was included in all nine of the marshaling instructions for lesser included offenses. The instructional error allowed the jury to conclude the insanity defense didn't apply to first-degree murder. This error undermines our confidence in the verdict. Accordingly, we vacate the decision of the court of appeals, reverse the district court judgment, and remand the case for a new trial.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

The following facts were developed at trial. Gregory Davis had a long history of mental illness and drug abuse dating back to his childhood. Ultimately, he was diagnosed with amphetamine-use disorder with psychosis

, major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, and cannabis-use disorder. Two experts testified in his murder trial that at the time he killed his longtime live-in girlfriend, Carrie Davis, he was experiencing psychosis and lacked the capacity to form criminal intent. Specifically, according to one psychiatrist, Greg believed "that by killing her he would be freeing her of her evil forces and lead to her resurrection and perhaps to life in a better location."

The trial experts relied on his medical and social history. Born with a cleft palate

, Greg underwent five extensive facial surgeries between birth and adolescence. He was "paranoid" that "everyone was looking at his face." In his teen years, his family noticed that he experienced "dark periods that would last for different amounts of time." Greg was bullied in school, struggled academically, and developed a mental illness. Greg's substance abuse began in his early teens with alcohol, and escalated to include marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and ecstasy. He became addicted while self-medicating with illegal substances.

Greg graduated from Linn-Mar High School and enrolled at Kirkwood Community College. He was unable to control his addictions and repeatedly entered drug treatment programs. He dropped out of Kirkwood after two semesters.

In 2013, Greg moved to Ohio to work for his brother Jeff's landscaping and home remodeling business. Greg's addictions continued. Jeff noticed that Greg's house was "very dark"; that Greg "did not have great personal skills"; and that Greg had "a lot of paranoia of people breaking in, stealing things, [and] the government watching." While in Ohio, Greg began dating Carrie. Jeff moved away and left Greg to run the business, which soon failed. In the early summer of 2017, Greg returned home to Marion, Iowa. Carrie left her family, including her children, and moved in with Greg in Iowa. Both Greg and Carrie used meth.

September 28, the date of the murder, was the last day that Greg's mother, Kathy, saw Carrie alive. On September 29, Greg called Kathy and said "Carrie is gone," and he thought Carrie "would wake up when the devil was out of her." On October 1, Greg drove a trailer to the house where his parents lived. Kathy saw rolls of carpet and asked Greg whether Carrie was in the trailer. Greg said that she was. The next day, Kathy contacted the Marion police to request a welfare check on Carrie and told them to look for Carrie at a vacant rental property Kathy owned on Hillview Drive. That same day, Sergeant Terry Kearney conducted a welfare check at the Hillview property, where he saw a trailer in a carport. After moving aside a blanket in the trailer, he saw a foot sticking out. He called for more officers, who secured the scene with him, and eventually Carrie's body was removed. Doctor Jonathan Thompson performed an autopsy and determined that the cause of death was multiple sharp force injuries and that her manner of death was homicide. A toxicology report indicated that Carrie had used meth shortly before her death, and Greg admitted to the police on October 2 that he had used meth around two days earlier, which would have been around the same time.

Tara Scott, a criminalist with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, found a bloodstain in the living room carpet of the house where Greg and Carrie had lived together. A mattress covered the bloodstain, and it appeared as if the blood from the carpet had transferred to the mattress. Carrie's blood was on a sample of carpeting from the living room and several items of clothing in the house. The carpeting in the basement of the residence had "similar characteristics and color" to the rolls of carpet in the trailer. She also found cleaners in the house and a mop bucket in the garage. There were several notes found in the garage, one of which read:

Greg Davis is and the spirit of Christ with the powers of the devil and always holds the power of God or the know how and ability and the ability to know how to do anything and everything by praying to himself to do what he or she or everyone or even Greg Davis wants. God can love or hate but not murder. Greg Davis can do anything so is similar to God but can choose to murder if he sees it necessary. God mostly love.

Investigator James Hancox located Greg's truck, a white Ford F-250, outside the Brookside house. The Immediate Response Unit arrived and arrested Greg. Greg had no drug paraphernalia or narcotics on his person. Nothing in Greg's appearance or demeanor indicated he was impaired by alcohol or drugs. Investigators found no illegal drugs or paraphernalia in the house where investigators found Carrie's body or the house where Greg and Carrie lived. Greg seemed "normal" to the officers, was able to communicate with them, and was coherent and responsive to their questions. After officers placed Greg in custody, Officer Bradley Feickert searched the garage at the house where Greg's parents lived and found an extension cord set up like a "makeshift noose or a noose that was attempting to be constructed."

Investigator Hancox searched the Ford and found several knives, bloodstained clothing in a garbage bag in a utility box, and a torn-up note, which he believed—due to singed edges—someone had tried to burn. The note, which had "VOID" written over it, and some words crossed out, read:

I stabbed Carrie in a vicious attack four days ago when I was on drugs and possessed(?) by what I believe was the devil. I am truly sorry and apologize to her friends and family. She is in the trailer. She was the love of my life. Greg Davis.

Kathy believed Greg was showing signs of paranoid schizophrenia

. She reported his claims that,

They were out to get him. They were bugging his house. They were bugging his car. He couldn't have any piece of electronics in a working condition because there was either a camera or a microphone in it. They were out to get him, to set him up.

At the time of his interview on October 2, however, Greg was "lucid" and "coherent" and did not seem to be under the influence of illegal drugs. During the interview, Greg said:

Q. So I'll turn it over to you for a second. A. I don't know. I recall the possession from the devil once.
Q. When was that? A. I don't know.
Q. You were possessed by the devil once? A. You know, that's what I think, you know, that's the best way I can put it.

Later, Greg said, "There is nothing good about it. She was possessed, as well. I almost felt like she took me over. I don't know how to explain it. I don't want to sound crazy." A few minutes later, he said,

I was scared. I didn't know what to do. I seriously thought there was a connection with her being possessed with the devil, and I didn't know if I needed to go to church. I don't know. I didn't want to take any initiative but it just (inaudible).

In the interview, Greg nodded his head when the officer asked him if he knew what he did was wrong. He also said that while he knew it was wrong, "I just don't feel like I was totally in control of it, honestly." In the interview, he admitted to attempting to hang himself in the garage. Greg later attempted suicide and was placed on suicide watch at the Linn County jail.

The State charged Davis with first-degree murder in violation of Iowa Code sections 707.1, 707.2(1)(a ), and 902.7 (2017) for the death of Carrie Davis. He filed notice that he intended to rely at trial on defenses of...

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