Steele v. Beard

• Citation: 830 F.Supp.2d 49
• Decision Date: 16 November 2011
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 09–626.
• Parties: Roland STEELE, Petitioner, v. Jeffrey BEARD, Commissioner, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, et al., Respondents.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania

830 F.Supp.2d 49

Roland STEELE, Petitioner,

v.Jeffrey BEARD, Commissioner, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, et al., Respondents.

Civil Action No. 09–626.

United States District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania.

Nov. 16, 2011.

Billy H. Nolas, Matthew Lawry, Defender Association of Philadelphia, David M. Osborne, Federal Community Defender Office, Philadelphia, PA, for Petitioner.

Joseph A. Carroll, Michael J. Fagella, Washington, PA, for Respondents.

OPINION

ARTHUR J. SCHWAB, District Judge.I. Introduction

In June of 1985, Roland Steele was charged with murdering Lucille Horner, age 88, Minnie Warrick, age 86, and Sarah Kuntz, age 85. The following year, in the Court of Common Pleas of Washington County, a jury convicted him of three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of robbery, and two counts of theft by unlawful taking. Following a penalty hearing, the jury sentenced him to death on each murder conviction.

Before this Court is Steele's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which he has filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. He raises 15 claims and numerous subclaims. He contends that he is entitled to a new trial or, at a minimum, a new sentencing hearing. After careful consideration, I conclude that Steele is not entitled to relief on any of the claims in which he challenges his convictions. Therefore, I will deny his request for a new trial.

I must, however, grant him a conditional writ of habeas corpus with respect to his request for a new sentencing hearing because the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has held that the jury instructions and verdict form employed in Steele's sentencing hearing violated the Eighth Amendment, pursuant to Mills v. Maryland, 486 U.S. 367, 108 S.Ct. 1860, 100 L.Ed.2d 384 (1988). Under the terms of the writ, the Commonwealth may conduct a new sentencing hearing, at which a jury will once again decide whether Steele should be sentenced to death or to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. If the Commonwealth does not conduct a new hearing, it must resentence Steele to a term of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

My disposition of the Mills claim and the conclusion that a writ of habeas corpus is issued with respect to Steele's capital sentence renders it unnecessary to address his remaining sentencing-phase claims; any relief he could obtain on those claims would be cumulative.

Steele's guilt-phase claims and his sentencing-phase Mills claim are:

Claim 3 He was denied a fair trial and due process when the Commonwealth introduced the false and unreliable testimony of F.B.I. Special Agent Andrew Podolak, who stated that hair samples taken from Steele's clothing were Minnie Warrick's hairs

Claim 4 His counsel was rendered ineffective due to the Commonwealth's discovery violations regarding Agent Podolak's testimony; and, were ineffective for failing to protect him from those discovery violations, for failing to adequately cross-examine, impeach, and rebut Agent Podolak's testimony, and, for failing to retain a defense expert to conduct hair comparison analysis

Claim 5 He was denied due process, an impartial jury, reliable sentencing and the effective assistance of counsel because venire members were not subjected to adequate voir dire during jury selection regarding racial bias

Claim 6 He was denied due process, a meaningful appeal and post-conviction hearing, and the effective assistance of counsel because he did not receive a complete set of voir dire transcripts

Claim 7 He was denied due process and the effective assistance of counsel because the trial court failed to provide specific instructions regarding the identification testimony provided by Harry Crothers and on cross-racial identification, and counsel failed to object and offer specific points of charge

Claim 8 He was denied due process, a unanimous verdict, and the effective assistance of counsel because the trial court's guilt-phase unanimity instruction improperly coerced a verdict and counsel failed to object to the erroneous instruction

Claim 9 He was denied due process and the effective assistance of counsel because the prosecutor engaged in prejudicial misconduct during closing arguments at the guilt phase of the trial without objection by counsel

Claim 10 He was denied due process and reliable sentencing because the trial court erroneously instructed the jury that it had to unanimously find a mitigating circumstance before giving it effect, in violation of Mills v. Maryland, 486 U.S. 367[, 108 S.Ct. 1860, 100 L.Ed.2d 384] (1988) Claim 13 He was denied due process and an impartial jury because the jury deliberations were infected with racial bias, predisposed opinions regarding his guilt, and external influence, and because the jury engaged in deliberative discussions before hearing the evidence

Claim 14 Counsel were ineffective for failing to raise all of the claims alleged in the habeas petition

Claim 15 He was denied due process and the effective assistance of counsel as a result of the prejudicial effects of the cumulative errors in this case, which undermine confidence in the outcome of his trial

II. Facts and Procedural History

On June 22, 1985, shortly after 6:00 a.m., the badly beaten body of Lucille Horner was discovered amidst discarded tires and other debris in a secluded wooded location just off Papp Road in Cecil Township, Washington County. While processing the crime scene, a police officer discovered the bodies of Sarah Kuntz and Minnie Warrick under a pile of discarded tires in the same general area where Horner's body was located. Steele had lived near the site when he was a youth and he was familiar with the area. Trial Tr. at 553–55, 1115–20, 1198–99.

The police quickly learned that the day before, on June 21, 1985, the victims had attended together a charitable luncheon at the Club Internationale, which is located in the Millcraft Center in the City of Washington, Pennsylvania. Lucille Horner drove them to the luncheon in her car, which was a beige-colored 1974 Dodge Dart. The luncheon began around 1:00 p.m. and ended around 2:30 p.m. As discussed below, the women were last seen alive with Steele, who was observed driving them, in Lucille Horner's car, out of the Millcraft Center parking lot.

Dr. Earnest L. Abernathy, Chief Pathologist of Washington Hospital, performed the autopsies. His conclusions, coupled with the knowledge of when they were last seen alive, placed the victims' deaths at some time after 2:30 p.m. on June 21, 1985. Id. at 189–90. Dr. Abernathy testified at Steele's subsequent trial that Lucille Horner's injuries included significant bruising on her chin, chest, and back, damage to her heart, numerous fractures of her ribs, a fracture of her backbone, damage to her liver, and a torn larynx. He concluded that the cause of death was traumatic rupture of the heart. The autopsy of Sarah Kuntz revealed similar injuries, including bruises on her face, chest, and legs, lacerations to the scalp, fractured ribs, and damage to her heart and liver. Dr. Abernathy concluded that the cause of death was asphyxia due to a fracture of the larynx. With regard to Minnie Warrick, Dr. Abernathy testified that she also sustained bruising to the face and chest, fractured ribs, and heart damage, as well as a partially collapsed lung and blowout of the stomach wall. The cause of death for Warrick was traumatic rupture of the heart, with numerous companion injuries.

Dr. Abernathy testified that the pattern of bruising on the victims was similar in all three cases, and was caused by substantial blunt force blows, which, in his opinion, were most likely delivered by human hands. The defense stipulated that Steele knew martial arts, and Commonwealth witnesses testified that he was a black belt in karate and had been employed as a martial arts instructor. Id. at 629–31, 637–38.

On June 23, 1985, the day after the victims' bodies were discovered, the police arrested Steele and charged him with their murders and with robbing them. Public Defender John Liekar, Sr., Esquire, and Assistant Public Defender Paul Tershel, Esquire, represented him. Tershel was lead trial counsel. A jury was selected from a venire in Erie County, and Steele's nine-day trial commenced on January 10, 1986. John C. Pettit, the District Attorney of Washington County, was the prosecutor.

At the trial, Steele did not dispute that he was in the vicinity of the Millcraft Center as late as 12:00 p.m. on the day the victims were murdered. Id. at 1201–02. See also id. at 754–57. Both Steele and William F. Henkel, Esquire, an attorney who was representing him in a civil lawsuit, testified that Steele visited Henkel at his office at approximately 11:15 a.m. on that date, and that Steele left there between around 11:45 a.m. and noon. Id. at 749–52, 1201. Henkel's office was located approximately three blocks from the Millcraft Center. Id. at 754–57.

Steele testified that he traveled to the City of Pittsburgh shortly after he left Henkel's office around noon and did not return to Washington County that day. The Commonwealth presented witnesses that countered Steele's testimony and placed him with the victims at the Millcraft Center after they had left their charity luncheon at around 2:30 p.m. It also introduced evidence to demonstrate that, as late as around 4:30 p.m., Steele was driving Lucille Horner's Dodge Dart in Washington County near where the victims were murdered.

Robert Poland knew Steele. He testified that he saw Steele the day of the murders at around 1:30 p.m. about 10 to 15 blocks from the Millcraft Center. Id. at 226. By the time the victims were leaving their charity luncheon around at 2:30 p.m., the Commonwealth's witnesses placed Steele at the Millcraft Center. Mildred Stitler lived in the Bassettown Manor Apartments, which is located next to the shopping center. From the windows of her fourth floor apartment, she could see into the shopping center's parking...