I.
Procedural and Factual History
A.
Hale's Conviction and Direct Appeal
{¶
3} On July 28, 2004, Hale was indicted for
aggravated murder, with felony murder death specifications,
aggravated robbery, tampering with evidence, and having a
weapon while under disability, all in connection with the
death of Douglas Green ("Green"). The relevant
facts supporting the indictment are as follows:
In 2003, Hale was released from prison after serving 12 years
of a sentence for aggravated robbery and carrying a concealed
weapon. At first, he lived with his father, but left in
February 2004. That same
month, he obtained a telemarketing job with a base pay of $
7.64 per hour. On March 9, 2004, Hale told his sister
Lashayla that he had a gun.
By June 2004, Hale was in financial difficulty. His bank
account had a negative balance during all of June 2004. On
June 8, he moved into Room 260 of the Lake Erie Lodge, a
motel in Euclid. He initially rented the room for a week. He
renewed his stay for another week on June 15, renewed for a
single night on June 22, and checked out on June 23.
On June 23, 2004, an employee of the lodge found a human
corpse wrapped in plastic garbage bags in Room 231, a vacant
room being used for storage. He notified the management, who
summoned the police. The body was identified as that of
Douglas Green, a local voice teacher, professional singer,
and music producer.
An autopsy disclosed that Green had been shot four times in
the right side of the head. Two shots went into Green's
right ear, one entered his skull directly behind the ear, and
one entered about two and one-half inches behind the ear.
Three of the four shots entered Green's brain. Any one of
these three wounds would have immediately stopped any
voluntary movement on Green's part. Three of the wounds
were contact wounds, meaning that the shots were fired from
no more than an inch away. Gunshot residue was found on
Green's right hand, but not his left, an indication that
Green's right hand was in close proximity to the gun when
it was fired.
Green's bank statement shows that at 12:07 p.m. on June
22, 2004, a person using Green's Visa card made a $ 55.15
purchase at a Giant Eagle store in Willoughby Hills. Giant
Eagle records show that the purchaser bought garbage bags,
cleaning supplies, beer, and cigarettes in that transaction.
Green did not smoke or drink beer. The purchaser also used a
Giant Eagle discount card registered to Hale's sister and
deceased mother.
Hale's friend James Hull saw Hale driving a[n] Explorer
SUV on two occasions after Green's murder, including on
June 23, 2004, when Hull helped Hale move out of the lodge.
Hull later identified photographs of Green's SUV as the
one Hale had been driving.
On June 28, 2004, at 2:30 p.m., Detective Sergeant Robert
Pestak of the Euclid police found Hale inside Green's
Ford Explorer SUV, parked near Hale's workplace in
Cleveland. Pestak, supported by Cleveland police units,
arrested Hale.
When told that he was being arrested for Green's murder,
Hale said, "I didn't kill anybody." Sergeant
Pestak administered Miranda warnings to Hale. While
being led to a cruiser, Hale again said, "I didn't
kill anybody."
Hale was taken to the Euclid police station and placed in a
cell. After approximately five hours, Hale was removed from
the cell and brought to the detective bureau. There,
Detective Sergeant James Baird [("Det. Baird")]
completed a personal-information form on Hale and presented
it to Hale for his signature. Hale signed the form using his
left hand, but Baird noted that Hale had difficulty writing
with that hand.
Baird then administered Miranda warnings to Hale.
Hale signed a Miranda waiver form, and this time,
Hale used his right hand. Baird proceeded to interrogate
Hale. During the interrogation, Baird told Hale that Green
"was possibly bisexual" and that "if this was
a case of self-defense, then that would be understandable if
he felt that Mr. Green had attacked him."
Hale wrote out and signed a four-page statement. In his
statement, Hale claimed that he had met Green in May 2004
when Green, identifying himself as a record producer, asked
Hale whether he had considered singing professionally and
gave Hale his cell-phone number. According to Hale, he later
called Green, and Green agreed to go to Hale's motel room
to hear him sing.
According to Hale, they had arranged to meet at the
Underground Railroad, a bar near the lodge. Hale claimed that
he and Green had met at the Underground Railroad on Monday,
June 21, 2004. (However, according to the owner of the
Underground Railroad, that establishment was closed on
Mondays.) They then went to Hale's room. According to
Hale, Green had a small gun in his shoulder bag and displayed
it to Hale as they entered the room.
Hale claimed that he sang for Green, then went to the
bathroom. Hale claimed that when he returned, he found Green
lying on the bed, nude. Hale told Green to leave. According
to Hale, Green grabbed Hale's wrists and "laid his
head on [Hale's] crotch" while making
"slurping" noises.
Hale claimed that he then freed his right hand, reached into
Green's bag, pulled out the gun, held it to Green's
head, and cocked it.
According to Hale, Green said, "It isn't loaded, so
why don't you give me some of that dick."
Hale fired. Green "reeled back," but still gripped
Hale's left wrist, according to Hale. Hale cocked the gun
and fired again. He then backed away from Green, took some
bullets from Green's bag, and reloaded. According to
Hale, Green then tried to stand up. Hale fired "once or
twice" more.
According to Hale, he considered calling an ambulance or the
police, but decided not to after he "thought about * * *
[his] record" and "the life [he] was attempting to
build." Instead, he disposed of the gun and Green's
belongings. Then he went out to buy cleaning supplies to
clean up Green's blood, using Green's credit card
because Hale's "funds were low." The next day,
he wrapped Green's body in garbage bags, also purchased
with Green's credit card, and dragged the body to a
storage room.
State v. Hale, 119 Ohio St.3d 118, 2008-Ohio-3426,
892 N.E.2d 864, ¶ 4-17 ("Hale I ").
{¶
4} "At trial, the defense claimed that
Hale's killing of Green constituted lawful self-defense
because Green had attempted to rape Hale." Id.
at ¶ 36. Ultimately, the jury rejected Hale's
defense and found him guilty of all counts and
specifications. On July 18, 2005, the trial court adopted the
jury's unanimous recommendation and sentenced Hale to
death on the aggravated-murder offense, and an aggregate
13-year prison term on the remaining convictions.
{¶
5} On July 15, 2008, Hale's conviction and
sentence were affirmed by the Ohio Supreme Court. Hale
I.
B.
Postconviction Proceedings in State Court
{¶
6} While his direct appeal was pending before the
Ohio Supreme Court, Hale filed a petition for postconviction
relief, raising 19 grounds for relief. Following
a substantial delay, the trial court dismissed Hale's
petition on September 24, 2015. This court affirmed the trial
court's judgement in State v. Hale, 8th Dist.
Cuyahoga No. 103654, 2016-Ohio-5837, ¶ 49
("Hale II ").
{¶
7} On January 11, 2017, Hale filed a "combined
motion for leave to file a motion for new mitigation trial
pursuant to criminal rule 33 and R.C. 2953.21." Hale
argued that the Ohio death penalty scheme was
unconstitutional. On September 10, 2018, the trial court
denied Hale's combined motion. This court affirmed the
trial court's judgment in State v. Hale, 8th
Dist. Cuyahoga No. 107782, 2019-Ohio-1890 ("Hale
III ").
C.
Postconviction Proceedings in Federal Court
{¶
8} In 2008, and again in 2017, Hale filed petitions
for writs of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, which
were denied. Hale v. Ohio, 556 U.S. 1168, 129 S.Ct.
1906, 173 L.Ed.2d 106 (2009); Hale v. Ohio, 138
S.Ct. 1269, 200 L.Ed.2d 424 (2018).
{¶
9} On October 10, 2018, Hale filed a petition for a
writ of habeas corpus in the Northern District of Ohio
Eastern Division, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254. In relevant
part, Hale argued that the trial court's jury-selection
procedures, which excluded persons convicted of felonies from
the jury pool, violated his Sixth Amendment right to a jury
from a fair cross-section of his community and his Fourteenth
Amendment rights to due process and equal protection. Hale
also raised various ineffective assistance of counsel claims
based on defense counsel's alleged failure t0 (1) hire
experts in forensic pathology, bloodstain pattern analysis,
forensic
psychiatry, sexual abuse, and trauma; ...