State v. Thompson

• Decision Date: 27 February 1989
• Citation: 768 S.W.2d 239
• Parties: STATE of Tennessee, Appellee, v. Gregory THOMPSON, Appellant. 768 S.W.2d 239
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

Page 239

768 S.W.2d 239

STATE of Tennessee, Appellee, v. Gregory THOMPSON, Appellant.

768 S.W.2d 239

Supreme Court of Tennessee,

at Nashville.

Feb. 27, 1989.

Permission to Appeal Denied by Supreme Court Dec. 30, 1991.

H. Thomas Parsons, Doyle E. Richardson, Manchester, for appellant.

W.J. Michael Cody, Atty. Gen. & Reporter, Kymberly Lynn Anne Hattaway, Asst. Atty. Gen., Nashville, Charles S. Ramsey, Jr., Dist. Atty. Gen., J.W. Luna, Asst. Atty. Gen., Manchester, for appellee.

OPINION

DROWOTA, Chief Justice.

In this direct appeal Gregory Thompson seeks review of his conviction for first degree murder and the capital sentence imposed in a jury trial.

The essential facts of the case are not in dispute. On December 29, 1984, Thompson and Joanne McNamara, a juvenile female, traveled by bus from Marietta, Georgia, to Shelbyville in Bedford County, Tennessee. They presented themselves as a married couple at the home of Willa Mae Odum, an acquaintance of McNamara's family who allowed them to stay. Ms. Odum learned the two were not married and asked Thompson to leave, but he remained through the night of December 31, waiting for a relative to wire him funds for a bus ticket. The following morning, January 1, Ms. Odum again insisted that Thompson leave, and she called the authorities to report that Joanne was a runaway. This call apparently prompted their departure. The couple, having little money and no transportation, spent the afternoon at a nearby Wal-Mart store.

Late that same afternoon, January 1, 1985, Brenda Lane, a local resident, made several purchases at the Wal-Mart, and did not arrive home when expected. Shortly after midnight her yellow Chevrolet was reported on fire near an apartment building in Marietta, Georgia. Thompson and McNamara were arrested by Cobb County authorities in connection with this investigation on the night of January 2. A traffic ticket in Thompson's jacket showed he had been cited for speeding, while driving Mrs. Lane's vehicle, at 8:25 p.m. on Interstate 24 near the Jasper-South Pittsburgh exit, the last exit before the Georgia line. A Wal-Mart receipt and several items in the vehicle indicated a purchase at that store at 5:51 p.m. January 1. A button found in the car matched those on Thompson's clothing.

A few hours later, while in custody, Thompson gave a statement admitting that he had abducted a woman at knifepoint from the Wal-Mart location in Shelbyville and had forced her to drive him and his companion, in her car, to a remote location outside Manchester, Tennessee. There he had stabbed her, driven the car over her body, and left her. He and McNamara had returned to Marietta and attempted to burn the vehicle. He also drew a map illustrating the route from the town to the site of the stabbing and describing several structures and other features along the way. He spoke on the phone with authorities in Manchester to clarify his directions.

In the early morning hours of January 3, a team of searchers following Thompson's directions found Brenda Lane at the place indicated in his statement. She was dead from multiple stab wounds to her back. Two of the four wounds had been fatal, penetrating her right lung and causing her to bleed to death. A forensic pathologist testified that she would not have died immediately, but would have remained conscious for five to ten minutes. At the scene she lay on her back, her body arched, her heels dug into the ground. One hand clutched several blades of grass, and the other held a tissue. There was no evidence she had, in fact, been run over by a vehicle. There was no evidence of a struggle, and apart from the stab wounds Ms. Lane was not injured.

A week later a road crew from the Coffee County jail found a rusty 12 5/8 inch knife along the route to the scene of the stabbing. It was not connected to the stabbing by any scientific evidence, but it resembled a knife that Thompson had shown to persons at the Odum residence.

Finally, the state trooper who had issued the speeding ticket to Thompson on the night of January 1 described him as "cool, calm, and collected." Thompson had borrowed a cigarette from him and in no way generated any suspicion. The stop was "ordinary."

The defendant presented no proof in the guilt/innocence phase of the trial.

At the sentencing hearing the State relied on its proof at the guilt phase. The defendant presented several witnesses who presented an unchallenged picture of him as a non-violent, co-operative, responsible young person through his school years, until he joined the Navy, and rather ambiguous behavior during his military service.

Several former teachers and acquaintances who had known him before he had left his home in Pike County, Georgia, in 1979 to join the Navy testified that he had a good reputation and had been a good student, who was "pleasant, easy-going, cheerful." His grandmother, who had raised him after his father left the family and his mother died in 1966, and his step-grandfather testified that he had been a normal, obedient, and hardworking child. The defendant's brother, sister, and cousin testified about their childhood. While the family was poor, it was also good and loving.

Defendant's girlfriend from this period of his life, Arlene Cajulao, testified that he was sensitive and caring. She told how he had suffered a head injury when three of his fellow service men attacked him with a crowbar and how he had become unreasonably fearful afterwards. Cajulao testified that Thompson had been court martialed for shoving a petty officer and either dislocated the officer's shoulder or broke his collar bone. She admitted knowing of other violent incidents between the defendant and other Navy personnel.

The Defendant had apparently returned to Georgia in 1983 and 1984 to look for work. His sister and her husband testified about his activities at this time and about his relationship with Joanne McNamara, whose mother, defendant claimed, was trying to force her into prostitution. Defendant had spoken with his sister after his arrest and expressed concern for his grandmother.

Dr. George Copple, a clinical psychologist who had interviewed and tested the Defendant, testified about his personality and capabilities for employment in prison. In Dr. Copple's opinion Thompson had a strong need for nurturance (to meet the needs of other persons). This protective attitude toward McNamara, plus a feeling that his options were limited had played a part in the killing. To this expert Defendant seemed remorseful, was not a "con artist" or malingerer, and did not have an adult anti-social personality.

In rebuttal of Dr. Copple's testimony the State presented the deposition of Dr. Robert Glenn Watson, a clinical psychologist at the Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute, who had participated in a staff evaluation of Defendant shortly after the arrest. Defendant, in the staff's opinion, exhibited an adult anti-social behavior. He was not remorseful and showed little or no emotion about the crime. During the period of evaluation, Defendant appeared to "malinger" schizophrenia, claimed to hear voices, and falsely claimed he was unable to read and write although he had attended college level courses in Hawaii and been a B student in high school.

In imposing the death penalty in this case the jury found three aggravating circumstances: 1) the murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel in that it involved torture or depravity of mind; 2) the defendant committed the murder for the purpose of avoiding or preventing his lawful arrest and prosecution; and 3) the murder was committed while the defendant was engaged in committing robbery or kidnapping. T.C.A. Sec. 39-2-203(i)(5), (6) and (7).

The appeal on this case presents numerous issues concerning the effective assistance of counsel, the composition and selection of the jury, the admissibility of evidence, and the constitutionality of the statute and jury instructions under which Defendant was sentenced. We examine these questions as they arose in the course of the proceedings.

Defendant claims first that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel because his attorneys were disqualified by a conflict of interest. The record shows the trial court appointed two attorneys, John W. Rollins and H. Thomas Parsons. Both quickly moved to withdraw, Mr. Rollins because he was the Coffee County Attorney, and Mr. Parsons because he was representing the Coffee County Sheriff in an unrelated civil matter in federal district court. Mr. Rollins did not confer with Defendant and took no part in his representation; and on April 9, 1985, he was relieved of the appointment. On the same day, Mr. Doyle Richardson was substituted as co-counsel, and he has continued as such through this appeal. No complaint is made about his representation.

On June 20, 1985, Mr. Parsons was also relieved as counsel by order of the Court of Criminal Appeals because of the possibility that the Sheriff's subordinates would give material testimony at trial. On July 5, 1985, Mr. Richardson moved on behalf of Defendant to have Mr. Parsons re-appointed, asserting the conflict had been resolved by the settlement of the Sheriff's civil suit. On July 10, 1985, the Court of Criminal Appeals ordered his re-appointment.

These matters were thoroughly litigated in the trial court. As anticipated, only one Sheriff's employee appeared at trial, and his testimony was limited to establishing the chain of custody of the knife found by the road crew. Moreover, the investigation was conducted, for the most part, by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, not the local sheriff's office. See State v. Jones, 726 S.W.2d 515 (Tenn.1987).

Plainly, an accused is entitled to zealous representation by an attorney unfettered by a conflicting interest. To establish a denial of the sixth amendment right to counsel, it is sufficient to show that an actual conflict existed. Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335...