State v. William J. Bradley

• Court: Ohio Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: STEPHENSON, Judge.
• Decision Date: 22 September 1987
• Docket Number: 1583,87-LW-4989
• Citation: State v. William J. Bradley, 1583, 87-LW-4989 (Ohio App. Sep 22, 1987)
• Parties: STATE of Ohio, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. William J. BRADLEY, Defendant-Appellant.

STATE of Ohio, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. William J. BRADLEY, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1583. Judgment affirmed, 42 Ohio St. 3d 136 (1989).

87-LW-4989 (4th)

Court of Appeals of Ohio, Fourth District Scioto

September 22, 1987

Ohio Public Defender Commission, Randall M. Dana, Ohio Public Defender, Randall L. Porter, Assistant State Public Defender Columbus, for appellant.

Lynn Alan Grimshaw, Scioto County Prosecuting Attorney, R Randolph Rumble, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, Portsmouth for appellee.

DECISION & JUDGMENT ENTRY

STEPHENSON Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction and death sentence entered upon a jury verdict finding William J. Bradley, defendant below and appellant herein, guilty of aggravated murder in violation of R.C. 2903.01(A), a capital offense.

On February 10, 1984, a Scioto County grand jury returned an indictment charging appellant with one count of aggravated murder and two specifications which permit imposition of the death penalty, i.e. (1) pursuant to R.C. 2929.04(A)(4), that the offense was committed while the offender was a prisoner in a detention facility as defined in R.C. 2921.01, and (2) pursuant to R.C. 2929.04(A)(5), that prior to the offense at bar, the offender was convicted of an offense, an essential element of which was the purposeful killing of or attempt to kill another.

On March 2, 1984, appellant was arraigned upon the indictment and entered a plea of not guilty. On March 6, 1984, the trial court appointed Stephen Rodeheffer and Joseph Hale as counsel for appellant. On March 20, 1984, appellant filed a motion pursuant to R.C. 2945.371 for evaluation of appellant's competency to stand trial, a request for a bill of particulars, and a demand for discovery. On March 29, 1984, the trial court ordered the Shawnee Forensic Center to conduct a competency evaluation of appellant. Upon motion of appellant, the court further ordered appellant's chosen psychiatrist, Dr. Ronald Litvak, to conduct a competency evaluation of appellant.

On July 18, 1984, the trial court ordered the Department of Corrections to allow appellant's counsel to inspect appellant's institutional file. On December 18, 1984, appellant filed a motion requesting a court order requiring that appellee produce for copying and/or inspection all highway patrol incident reports relating to the incident in order for Dr. Litvak to conduct his evaluation. Both Dr. James Hagen of the Shawnee Forensic Center and Dr. Litvak concluded that appellant was competent to stand trial.

On January 29, 1985, appellant filed a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity and the trial court ordered the Shawnee Forensic Center to conduct an examination of appellant as to whether or not at the time of the offense, appellant suffered from a mental illness or defect such that he did not have the capacity either to know the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. Dr. David Helm of the Shawnee Forensic Center conducted such evaluation, finding that appellant was most likely psychotic or significantly impaired at the time of the offense, but was unable to reach a definitive opinion because of appellant's inability to cooperate.

On April 12, 1985, appellee filed a bill of particulars, which averred that on February 2, 1984, at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF) in Lucasville, Ohio, appellant, being upset with the decision of Eric Bowling to work him full-time in the shop, came in early to kill Bowling. The bill of particulars further stated that appellant approached Bowling from behind with a piece of metal, beat him repeatedly with the metal bar about his head and neck, and that Bowling died from injuries sustained from appellant's attack. On the same date, appellee filed a response to appellant's demand for discovery which stated, inter alia, that appellant had orally stated to various SOCF personnel that he had attacked Eric Bowling, that appellee did not know of any evidence favorable to appellant, and that appellee intended to call fifty four witnesses, including SOCF inmates and personnel, at trial.

On May 6, 1985, a lengthy voir dire examination of prospective jurors began. On May 13, 1985, the voir dire examination concluded and the jury selected viewed the scene of the homicide. On May 14, 1985, appellant elected to have the second specification regarding appellant's prior conviction tried by the court at the sentencing phase. The guilt phase of the trial then began at which the following pertinent evidence was adduced.

Appellant was an inmate at SOCF, incarcerated for the first degree murder of John Chambers in Cuyahoga County in 1963 and for a parole violation arising out of a charge of carrying a concealed weapon and having a weapon while under disability. Appellant worked as a porter in the prison sheet metal shop, where Eric Bowling, a 62 year old civilian employee, worked as a supervisor. Appellant had been assigned to work in the sheet metal shop, which produces filing cabinets for various government agencies, and his job as a porter consisted of sweeping and mopping the work area.

Prior to February 2, 1984, Bowling told inmate Michael Steele to inform appellant that he was going to be changed from part-time work to full-time work in the sheet metal shop. According to Steele, appellant was upset when he learned of the increase in his work schedule. On February 6, 1984, according to the testimony of inmate James Patterson, Bowling told appellant to do his work over and appellant responded by saying "I'm going to get you, old man."

Just prior to 8:00 a.m. on February 2, 1984, Bowling was standing near his desk near inmate Howard McCoy when, according to McCoy's testimony, appellant approached them from behind and began beating Bowling about his head and neck with a three foot long piece of metal. Inmate John King testified that he heard a sound, saw appellant hitting something with the metal bar, and when he ran closer to Bowling's desk, saw appellant hit Bowling at least once or twice more. Appellant then walked away, throwing the metal bar into a nearby pile of scrap sheet metal.

After the incident, prison officials closed off the area and conducted a strip search of the inmates in the sheet metal shop. Deputy Superintendent Bill Seth testified that this procedure was the same as that for all other prison incidents, with everyone leaving the area to be searched for the possibility of having weapons that constituted a threat to the security of the institution. The second or third person strip searched had blood on his shorts and appellant walked over to them and said that they should let that inmate go, that he had nothing to do with the incident.

After the prison officials confiscated the shorts of the inmate they searched appellant. Correctional officer Richard Taylor handed Deputy Superintendent Seth appellant's shirt, which had a spot of blood on it and further noted splatters of blood on appellant's forehead. Seth asked appellant what the spot on his shirt was and he replied that it was blood. Seth then asked appellant where the blood came from and appellant said it came from "over there," pointing to the area where the incident had occurred. Taylor then asked appellant "Why, did you do that?" to which appellant answered "yes." Appellant was then handcuffed and taken to a maximum security cell.

Sergeant Blaine Keckley of the State Highway Patrol testified that appellant had no visible wounds which were bleeding when he was examined at the SOCF infirmary and that the blood on his shirt was type "O," the same blood type as the victim, Eric Bowling. State Highway Patrol District Investigator Ivan Teets conducted an investigation of the incident and compiled a report which contained, inter alia, appellant's prior criminal record, a few newspaper clippings discussing the homicide, appellant's refusal to make a statement to Teets, a psychological report which detailed an evaluation done on appellant in February 1984 by the Director of Psychological Service at Chillicothe Correctional Institute (CCI), and the statements of various inmates and prison officials who had been interviewed by Teets. After a minor deletion, the investigative report of Teets, labeled state exhibit 12, was introduced into evidence without objection.

Dr. Patrick Fardal, a forensic pathologist who conducted an autopsy on the victim's body, testified that Bowling died due to a blunt impact to the head, a fracture to the skull, injury to the brain, severance of the cartoid artery, blunt trauma to the neck and larynx, and subsequent hemorrhage to the surrounding neck musculature. Fardal further testified that the metal bar retrieved from the scene of the murder and introduced into evidence at trial was capable of inflicting such injuries.

Appellant testified that he was not upset when an inmate advised him of Bowling's intention to increase his work schedule, that he never had any trouble with Bowling, that inmates Patterson, King, and McCoy were lying, that he never said anything to Deputy Superintendent Seth and correctional officer Taylor during the strip search, and that he did not kill Bowling. Following the trial court's instructions, on May 16, 1985, the jury returned a verdict finding appellant guilty of the aggravated murder of Eric Bowling and the first specification that the offense was committed while appellant was a prisoner in a detention facility as defined in R.C. 2921.01.

The jury was sequestered until May 20, 1985, when the sentencing phase of the proceedings commenced. Prior to the sentencing phase, the trial court conducted a hearing outside the presence of the jury at which it determined that appellant was guilty of the second specification listed in the...