State v. McCoy
| Decision Date | 04 February 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 02-1665.,02-1665. |
| Citation | 692 N.W.2d 6 |
| Parties | STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Darryl Anthony McCOY, Appellant. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Kent A. Simmons, Davenport, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Linda J. Hines, Assistant Attorney General, William E. Davis, County Attorney, and Jerald Feuerbach and Michael Walton, Assistant County Attorneys, for appellee. LAVORATO, Chief Justice.
The defendant, Darryl Anthony McCoy, appeals from his conviction and sentence for first-degree murder and willful injury. The decisive issue is whether McCoy established his claim that his trial counsel was ineffective in failing to move to suppress incriminating statements he made following his detention by the police. We ordered a limited remand to allow the district court to rule on the claim. See Iowa R.App. P. 6.12(7); see also State v. Nelson, 329 N.W.2d 643, 647 (Iowa 1983); State v. Aldape, 307 N.W.2d 32, 41 n. 3 (Iowa 1981).
Following a hearing, the district court found McCoy had established his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel on one of two grounds that he urged in support of his claim and granted him a new trial. On our de novo review, we find that McCoy established both grounds he urged in support of his claim, and we agree with the district court's decision on limited remand to grant him a new trial. We therefore reverse his conviction and sentence and remand for a new trial.
On Sunday night, January 27, 2002, Rick Wahlig and his girlfriend, Shelly Reyes, had been out to dinner. Sometime after eleven o'clock, the couple returned to Reyes's apartment complex at 2931 West 34th Street in Davenport. The couple noticed that a car was parked in a spot where Wahlig usually parked. On Wednesday, Wahlig noticed the car was still there. When he looked inside the car, Wahlig saw a bundle in the back seat covered with a blanket that appeared to be stained. Wahlig asked a neighbor to come out with him to inspect the car. On closer inspection, Wahlig noticed a foot. He then called the police.
William James Thomas, Jr., a detective with the City of Davenport police department, arrived on the scene with several other detectives, patrol officers, and evidence technicians. Thomas headed up the investigation. The car in question was a maroon 1980 Chevy Caprice with Iowa plates 529LDY. The vehicle was put on a flatbed truck and taken to the Davenport police station where it was photographed and processed for evidence. The body was taken from the car and photographed. A black garbage bag was around the decedent's head, and the bag was secured with tape.
The police traced the license plate on the vehicle to its owner and were able to determine that the last person driving the vehicle was Jonathan Johnson. The police contacted Jonathan's mother, who came to the station and identified the decedent's clothing.
Detective Thomas, together with several other officers and an evidence technician, were present at the autopsy that took place in Rockford, Illinois. Once the plastic bag was removed from the decedent's head, the decedent was positively identified as Jonathan Johnson. The autopsy disclosed that Jonathan had been shot three times, stabbed, cut, and experienced blunt force injury to the head.
On the way back to Davenport, Detective Thomas received a call on his cell phone from the Davenport police department to go directly to 2218 Emerald Drive, Apartment No. 1. Brandy Johnson (the decedent's sister) and Lawrence McCoy (Brandy's significant other and Darryl McCoy's brother) shared the apartment before Brandy's incarceration, which was unrelated to this case. Brandy consented to the search of the apartment.
The search revealed blood splattering on the tiled entryway floor, the bathroom wall, a closet wall, and the living room. In addition, bloody fingerprints were found on two bottles of cleaning products.
Detective Thomas then requested that paperwork be filed to pick up Lawrence McCoy on a material witness charge so the police could interview him. Following the search and the request to pick up Lawrence McCoy, Detective Thomas drove to the Henry County Jail in Cambridge, Illinois to interview Brandy.
Following that interview, Detective Thomas applied for a search warrant for 514 Gaines Street to look for Lawrence McCoy. The police had learned that Lawrence McCoy was currently living at that address. After securing the search warrant, Detective Thomas, accompanied by two other detectives, drove in that direction. On the way, at approximately 1:00 a.m. on February 2, Detective Thomas saw a vehicle he knew Lawrence McCoy had been driving, so he stopped it. The detectives removed the occupants of the vehicle at gunpoint. The detectives determined that Darryl McCoy, rather than Lawrence McCoy, was driving the vehicle.
Before stopping the vehicle, the police were not looking for Darryl McCoy and thought they were stopping Lawrence McCoy. Upon identifying Darryl McCoy, the detectives placed him in the back seat of a police vehicle and brought him to the police station for an interview.
At the station, Detective Thomas conducted a videotaped interview of Darryl McCoy. At the start of the interview, McCoy read and signed a sheet waiving his Miranda rights. Eventually, he admitted being present while Lawrence McCoy and Chance Barnes killed Jonathan Johnson. Darryl McCoy also admitted that he helped clean the apartment and dispose of the body.
The State eventually charged Darryl McCoy, Lawrence McCoy, and Chance Barnes with (1) first-degree murder in violation of Iowa Code sections 707.1, 707.2, and 708.4 (2001) under the theories of premeditation and felony murder and (2) willful injury in violation of Iowa Code section 708.4(1).
The State tried Darryl McCoy separately, but the record does not reveal how the severance of the trial occurred. (Hereinafter we refer to Darryl McCoy as "the defendant.") At the jury trial, the State — without objection from defense counsel — offered into evidence the videotaped interview. The jury convicted the defendant of both charges. The court sentenced the defendant to a life sentence for the murder conviction and ten years for the willful injury conviction and then merged the willful injury sentence with the murder sentence.
The defendant appealed. After the case was submitted, we remanded the case to the district court for a hearing on the defendant's claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel for failing to move to suppress statements the defendant made following his detention. The defendant based his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel on two grounds: (1) his detention was an illegal seizure; and (2) the nature of his detention and the officer's promise of leniency rendered his confession involuntary. The remand was pursuant to Iowa Rule of Appellate Procedure 6.12(7), which provides:
The appropriate appellate court during appeal or pending application for appeal may remand the cause to the district court, which shall have jurisdiction for such specific proceedings as may be directed by the appellate court. Notwithstanding such remand, jurisdiction of the appeal shall remain in the appellate court which ordered the remand.
Following a hearing, the district court found against the defendant on the first ground (illegal seizure) but found for the defendant on the second ground (involuntary confession). The court granted the defendant a new trial.
The matter is again before us pursuant to Iowa Rule of Appellate Procedure 6.12(7).
The State agrees with the district court ruling on the illegal seizure issue but challenges its ruling on the involuntary confession issue. The defendant on the other hand agrees with the district court ruling on the involuntary confession issue but challenges its ruling on the illegal seizure issue.
Because the defendant alleges ineffective assistance of counsel, we set out the following well-established principles of review in this area:
State v. Scalise, 660 N.W.2d 58, 61-62 (Iowa 2003) (citations omitted). The normal range of competency includes being familiar with the current state of the law. State v. Hopkins, 576 N.W.2d 374, 379-80 (Iowa 1998).
Ordinarily, we do not decide claims of ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal, preferring to let the parties explore the matter in postconviction relief proceedings. Id. at 378. Our reason for not deciding such claims on direct appeal is because trial counsel has not had the opportunity to respond to the claim. Id."However, we do consider such claims when the record is clear and plausible strategy and tactical considerations do not explain counsel's actions." Id.
Here, on limited remand, there was a hearing before the district court on the defendant's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. The defendant's trial counsel testified concerning his reasons for not filing the motion to suppress. We therefore have a sufficient record to decide the defendant's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.
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