Taylor v. Workman

• Decision Date: 30 January 2009
• Docket Number: No. 07-7030.,07-7030.
• Parties: Charles TAYLOR, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Randall G. WORKMAN, Warden, Oklahoma State Penitentiary,<SMALL><SUP>*</SUP></SMALL> Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

554 F.3d 879

Charles TAYLOR, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Randall G. WORKMAN, Warden, Oklahoma State Penitentiary,^* Respondent-Appellee.

No. 07-7030.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

January 30, 2009.

Randy A. Bauman, Assistant Federal Public Defender (James A. Drummond, Assistant Federal Public Defender, with him on the briefs), Oklahoma City, OK, for Petitioner-Appellant.

Robert L. Whittaker, Assistant Attorney General (W.A. Drew Edmondson, Attorney General of Oklahoma Criminal Division, with him on the brief), Oklahoma City, OK, for Respondent-Appellee.

Before KELLY, McCONNELL, and GORSUCH, Circuit Judges.

McCONNELL, Circuit Judge.

In a drug-related incident, Petitioner-Appellant Charles Taylor shot four people, one of whom died. The prosecution introduced evidence that Mr. Taylor made statements at the time indicating an intention to kill two of the shooting victims who survived the incident. Mr. Taylor denied that he had any intention to kill the victim who died, whom he did not even know. Rather, he testified that he shot this victim while firing his weapon wildly as he attempted to flee the scene. An Oklahoma jury convicted Mr. Taylor of one count of first degree murder and three counts of shooting with intent to kill. He was sentenced to death on the first degree murder conviction.

The trial court determined that Mr. Taylor was entitled to receive a lesser-included offense instruction of second degree murder on the shooting death, but provided the jury an instruction that—all parties now agree—was legally defective. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ("OCCA") upheld the conviction, notwithstanding the defective instruction, because it concluded that the error was harmless. It reasoned that the evidence did not support the necessity of a lesser-included-offense instruction at all; therefore, it determined that the defective character of the instruction did not result in a violation of Mr. Taylor's constitutional rights.

Mr. Taylor filed a petition in federal district court for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, raising a number of grounds for relief. The district court denied relief, and Mr. Taylor appealed to this court. We hold, contrary to the district court and the OCCA, that Mr. Taylor was constitutionally entitled at trial to a correct jury instruction on the lesser-included offense of second-degree murder and that the error was not harmless. See Beck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. 625, 100 S.Ct. 2382, 65 L.Ed.2d 392 (1980). Because we conclude that the OCCA's decision on this point was "contrary to . . . clearly established federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States," 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1), we reverse the district court's denial of Mr. Taylor's petition for habeas relief on his first degree murder conviction, making it unnecessary to reach his other arguments.

I. Background

Our account of the facts of this case is largely based on the OCCA's opinion in Taylor v. State, 998 P.2d 1225 (Okla.Crim. App.2000) ("Taylor II"). We presume the state court's factual findings to be correct unless the petitioner rebuts the presumption by clear and convincing evidence. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1).

A. The Crime

In mid-October 1995, Mr. Taylor and Shelia Pelz, his girlfriend, sold a pouch of methamphetamine paste to Steven Verner, a friend of Mr. Taylor, for $1700. Mr. Verner paid Mr. Taylor $400 up front and agreed to pay the balance of the money due after he sold the drugs. After this transaction, Mr. Taylor and Ms. Pelz stayed with Mr. Verner at his home for roughly a week and, according to Mr. Verner, "[d]id a lot of drugs" together. At the end of that week, Mr. Verner was able to pay Mr. Taylor an additional $400. Mr. Verner also gave Mr. Taylor a nine millimeter pistol to hold as collateral.

Mr. Taylor attempted to collect on Mr. Verner's remaining debt several times, but with no success. The prosecution presented evidence that on November 4, 1995, the day of the shooting, Mr. Taylor saw a friend, Frankie Oss, and "told Oss that he was going to collect his money from Verner, otherwise he might shoot Verner with his own gun if he did not pay." Taylor II, 998 P.2d at 1228. Mr. Oss testified that he did not take this comment seriously, but cautioned Mr. Taylor about spending the rest of his life in the penitentiary. Mr. Taylor and Ms. Pelz then spent the day with Steve Armstrong, another friend to whom Mr. Verner owed money for methamphetamine. Mr. Armstrong testified that over the course of nine hours, Mr. Taylor, he, and two others consumed a twelve-pack of beer. After leaving Mr Armstrong's home with Ms. Pelz, Mr. Taylor returned briefly to get something he had forgotten. Mr. Armstrong testified that Mr. Taylor then told him that he (Taylor) "was going to `cap the son of a bitch (Verner) so that bitch (Pelz) would shut up and leave him alone.'" Taylor II, 998 P.2d at 1229.

Mr. Taylor and Ms. Pelz went to Mr. Verner's home later that night. At the home were Mr. Verner, Verner's daughter Lindsay, Lindsay's friend Adrianne Smith, and Michael Sauer, a friend of Mr. Verner. Mr. Taylor did not know either Michael Sauer or Adrianne Smith. Lindsay knew Mr. Taylor from when he stayed at Mr. Verner's home. Mr. Taylor brought with him Mr. Verner's pistol, which he had loaded with ammunition approximately a week earlier.

While Ms. Pelz waited in the car, Mr. Verner took Mr. Taylor into his home, where they "visited a little bit." Tr. II 419. During this time, Mr. Sauer was watching television in the living room, while Lindsay and Adrianne went to chat with Ms. Pelz in the car outside. Eventually, Mr. Verner offered Taylor food and they went together into the kitchen. There, Mr. Verner acknowledged that he owed Mr. Taylor money and promised to repay him, but told Taylor that he did not have the money at that moment. Mr. Verner testified that Mr. Taylor told him "that wasn't good enough," looked like he was going to cry, and said "I'm worried about it's down to the point of being or not being." Verner reached out to console him and asked, "You mean to tell me they're going to kill you over eight hundred dollars,"^** or something to that effect. According to Mr. Verner, after he said this and put his hand on Taylor's shoulder, Taylor pushed Verner away. Mr. Taylor reached for the loaded pistol and shot Mr. Verner in the face.

After being shot, Mr. Verner heard two more shots and thought that Taylor had committed suicide in the next room. In fact, Mr. Taylor had shot Michael Sauer— twice. Taylor then proceeded out of the house and encountered Lindsay Verner, who had left the vehicle and was attempting to run inside. She saw Mr. Taylor waving a pistol and testified that she heard him say "I hope you die, bitch," before shooting her in the side of the head. Adrianne Smith saw Taylor shoot Lindsay and attempted to aid her friend; Mr. Taylor shot Ms. Smith twice. Taylor then got into Ms. Pelz's vehicle and drove away.

Mr. Taylor's testimony mostly accorded with Mr. Verner's account, but disputed some facts and provided additional color as to his actions and alleged state of mind on the day of the shooting. As the OCCA summarized:

Appellant testified at trial that before he went to Verner's home, he had consumed alcohol and methamphetamine.^*** He admitted having Verner's loaded gun inside his shirt when he knocked on the door, but said he was going to return it upon payment of the money. He also testified when Verner reached out towards him, he became scared, pushed him back, pulled out the gun from within his shirt, and shot him in the face.

He stated that when Verner grabbed his face and fell to the ground, he flipped out and started running towards the door. While running through the living room, Appellant saw movement out of the corner of his eyes and fired twice in the direction of the movement. Outside, he saw two more people running towards him screaming and just started shooting in their direction. He then got into Pelz's car and drove off. Pelz asked him what had happened, but Appellant said he could not remember.

Appellant could not explain why it scared him when Verner put his arm around him. Further, he could not remember telling Lindsay that he hoped she died. Appellant testified he did not aim as he shot, but the gun was just flailing around and he was shooting it at anyone running towards him.

Taylor II, 998 P.2d at 1229 (¶ 11-13).

Mr. Taylor did not remember telling Frankie Oss that "he was going to kill Verner with his own gun." Id. He did, however, remember telling Steve Armstrong something to the effect of "somebody needs to put a cap in [Mr. Verner]."

After the shootings, Mr. Sauer called 911 to report the incident and ask for help. Steven Verner, Lindsay Verner, and Adrianne Smith survived their wounds. Michael Sauer did not.

B. Trial Proceedings

Mr. Taylor was tried over four days before a jury in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma. The defense focused primarily on the theory that Mr. Taylor lacked the premeditated intent necessary to support a first degree murder conviction for the killing of Michael Sauer. The only defense witness was Mr. Taylor himself, whose testimony was summarized above. The prosecution argued that Mr. Taylor had gone to the Verner home with the intention of killing Steven Verner if he did not pay the methamphetamine debt, and that, having shot Verner, Mr. Taylor then intentionally killed, or attempted to kill, the others in order to eliminate witnesses.

After closing arguments, the prosecution and defense jointly prepared the jury instructions and reviewed them with the court the next day, outside of the jury's presence. As regarded the shooting of Michael Sauer, the jury was instructed on first and second degree depraved mind murder, as well as voluntary intoxication as a defense to first degree murder. The instructions indicated that in order to meet its burden of proof on the first degree murder charge, the state had...