Thomas v. Beard
| Decision Date | 19 August 2005 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 00-803. |
| Citation | 388 F.Supp.2d 489 |
| Parties | Brian THOMAS, Petitioner, v. Jeffrey BEARD, Acting Secretary of Corrections, et al., Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
Billy H. Nolas, Kathy Swedlow, Defender Association of Philadelphia, Victor Julio Abreu, Federal Public Defender's Office, Philadelphia, PA, for Petitioner.
Robert M. Falin, Thomas W. Dolgenos, District Attorney's Office, Philadelphia, PA, for Respondent.
On February 6, 1986, a jury empaneled in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County convicted Brian Thomas of murder in the first degree, burglary, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, and rape. In a separate proceeding, the same jury sentenced Thomas to death. At issue today is Thomas's federal habeas corpus petition filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. In this petition, Thomas claims that his trial and sentencing hearing were infected with constitutional error, and he seeks release or a new trial, or, at a minimum, a new sentencing hearing.
The evidence adduced at trial discloses the following: On August 9, 1985, at about 7:00 PM, St. Clair Holman, who rented a room in the Philadelphia apartment of Linda Johnson and her boyfriend, Irving Furlow, entered the apartment. On opening the door, Holman saw that the apartment had been ransacked. In his own room, Holman found that his television set, and also a can in which he had approximately $29 in change, were missing. In Linda Johnson's room, her dead body hung face-down on a broken box spring. Johnson's eyes and face were swollen and her nose and right temple were bleeding. There was a bite mark on her cheek, and there were bruises on her arms and thighs. The victim was nude from the waist down, and blood was oozing from her vagina and rectum.
An autopsy revealed that, in addition to the injuries just described, Johnson sustained three fractured ribs, and a twenty-three inch tear reaching from the vagina and diaphragm up into the chest cavity. The autopsy also found that, with the use of a blunt instrument, a shirt had been inserted into Johnson's rectum, through the intestinal wall and into her abdominal cavity. A blood-encrusted crutch was found near her body. The medical evidence also indicated that the victim was still alive when the shirt was inserted into her rectum. Finally, there was evidence that sperm was deposited in the victim between 5:00 PM and 6:30 PM.
The Commonwealth relied on the evidence summarized above to establish that Linda Johnson was raped, that her death was a homicide, and that the homicide was intentional and malicious. At sentencing, the Commonwealth used the guilt- phase evidence to establish two of the aggravating factors that it invoked, successfully, to support a sentence of death: that the murder was committed during the course of a felony — namely, rape — and that the murder involved torture.
To identify Thomas as the perpetrator, the Commonwealth adduced the following evidence: First, the officer who was first to arrive at the scene of the crime testified that he had seen Johnson with Thomas only two hours before, when he was investigating Johnson's complaint of a stolen purse. Second, Holman testified that he had seen Johnson and Thomas together at 5:45 PM. Third, a friend of Thomas's testified that he had seen Thomas with Johnson at a bar across the street from her apartment during the late afternoon. Fourth, the sperm found in Johnson was deposited by a non-secretor (i.e., one who does not secrete traces of blood in his body fluid emissions), and Thomas's blood was analyzed and typed to be that of a non-secretor. Fifth, blood found on his boxer shorts was determined to be human blood. Sixth, an impression of Thomas's teeth fit with the bite mark left on Johnson's cheek. Finally, the television set and $29 taken from Holman's room were found in Thomas's possession.
The judge presiding at trial and sentencing was the Honorable Edwin Malmed. Thomas was represented by court-appointed counsel. On February 6, 1986, a jury found Thomas guilty of murder in the first degree, rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, and burglary.
At the penalty phase that followed later in the day, the Commonwealth relied upon three aggravating factors. Two of these — killing in the course of another felony, and torture — have been referred to above. The third aggravating factor was a significant history of violent felony convictions, see 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(d)(6),(8),(9). To establish the third aggravating factor, the Commonwealth invoked (1) Thomas's 1978 conviction for felonious aggravated assault and indecent assault on a three-year old who suffered injuries to his rectum and intestines, and (2) Thomas's 1984 conviction for criminal trespass, wherein Thomas had unlawfully entered the home of a neighbor and then climbed into bed with her while she was sleeping.
At the start of the penalty phase, counsel for Thomas advised the court, in the absence of the jury, that his client would present no mitigating evidence. The court ruled that Thomas should be colloquied regarding his decision to forego mitigating evidence, and Thomas was then questioned about his decision. Immediately following the colloquy, the prosecution offered to stipulate to Thomas's age and to the fact that he had a high school diploma, but Thomas, through counsel, declined the offer.
The jury found the three proposed aggravating factors and no mitigating factors, and it voted death. Thomas's post-verdict motions were argued and denied, and the trial court sentenced Thomas to death on the first-degree murder conviction, and to consecutive terms of imprisonment for a maximum of fifty years for the burglary, rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse convictions.
On June 17, 1989, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued its opinion in Thomas's automatic direct appeal, see 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(h)(1). Thomas, via a new court-appointed attorney, challenged the sufficiency of the guilt-phase evidence, and contested the evidence underpinning the aggravating factors found by the jury in the penalty phase. As to the guilt phase, Thomas argued that the burglary conviction was improper because the evidence suggested that his entry into Johnson's apartment was authorized; that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for involuntary deviate sexual intercourse; that there was no evidence that he penetrated Johnson and hence that his rape conviction was improper; that it was prejudicial to admit testimony from the medical examiner that Johnson would have experienced pain as a result of the insertion of the shirt into her rectum; and that a hatchet found at the murder scene should not have been admitted into evidence. Regarding his sentence, Thomas argued that the evidence did not support a finding that the murder was committed during the course of the burglary, rape or involuntary deviate sexual intercourse; that the crime of criminal trespass did not constitute a prior violent felony; that the court's torture instruction was improper; and that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding of torture. The Commonwealth argued that none of Thomas's claims had been raised in post-verdict motions, and so these were waived. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected the Commonwealth's waiver argument, noting that "in death penalty cases, we relax the waiver rule at times and address the merits of arguments raised for the first time in the direct appeal to this court." Commonwealth v. Thomas, 522 Pa. 256, 561 A.2d 699, 704 (1989) (Thomas-I). On addressing the merits, the court sustained the convictions and the death sentence.
In 1992, Thomas sought collateral relief from his convictions and sentence by filing a petition under Pennsylvania's Post-Conviction Relief Act, 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9541 et seq. (hereinafter "PCRA"). Thomas was represented by yet another court-appointed attorney. Thomas's amended PCRA petition expressly acknowledged the federal constitutional underpinning of Thomas's claims, stating that Thomas's waiver of the right to present mitigating evidence was constitutionally deficient, and that trial and appellate counsel's performance was ineffective in violation of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments of the Constitution.
Thomas's PCRA counsel requested an evidentiary hearing, but the Court of Common Pleas, sitting as the PCRA court, denied the request, having determined that a decision could be made from the existing record. Commonwealth v. Thomas, No. 2716 (Pa.Commw.Ct., 1st Jud. Dist., Sept. 13, 1995). The PCRA court noted that Thomas would not be entitled to review of any claim that had been previously litigated or waived, but it nonetheless considered the merits of each claim of error, and, in an opinion of September 13, 1995, found them all to be wanting, and hence denied PCRA relief.
In his appeal from the denial of PCRA relief, Thomas's PCRA counsel was joined by another attorney, then of the Center for Legal Education, Advocacy, and Defense Assistance and now of the Capital Habeas Unit of the Federal Defenders Association, who is one of Thomas's current habeas counsel. The PCRA appeal brief raised twenty-three claims of error, and argued that, in light of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's policy of relaxing the waiver bar in death penalty cases, all of these claims of error were properly before the court. Twenty-one of the twenty-three claims in Thomas's PCRA appeal brief appear in his habeas petition. For the sake of brevity, Thomas's claims are listed in the form and order in which they appear in the habeas petition; the number by which each claim was designated in the PCRA appeal brief appears in arabic numerals in parentheses following each claim below:
Claim I (Claim 1 in PCRA appeal brief) — Trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate, develop and...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Com. v. Sattazahn, No. 509 CAP.
...verdict of not guilty only by reason of insanity. See Shannon, 512 U.S. at 577-78, 114 S.Ct. at 2423. 20. See, e.g., Thomas v. Beard, 388 F.Supp.2d 489, 531-33 (E.D.Pa.2005) ("Given the absence of specific, constitutionally mandated language, the wide latitude given to judges in crafting th......
-
Thomas v. Horn
..."Thomas II"). Thomas then petitioned the District Court for habeas relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Thomas v. Beard, 388 F.Supp.2d 489 (E.D.Pa.2005) (hereinafter "Thomas III"). The District Court granted Thomas sentencing relief based on his trial counsel's ineffectiveness, but denied h......
-
Ford v. Schofield
...Morgan placed a new obligation on the states that was not simply a logical extension of established precedent. See Thomas v. Beard, 388 F.Supp.2d 489, 531 (E.D.Pa. 2005). In fact, the Supreme Court expressly stated that it granted certiorari in Morgan "because of the considerable disagreeme......
-
Cowans v. Bagley
...to present such evidence. See, e.g., Hawkins v. Mullin, 291 F.3d 658, 682 (10th Cir.2002) (Lucero, J., concurring); Thomas v. Beard, 388 F.Supp.2d 489, 513-14 (E.D.Pa.2005); Shafer v. Bowersox, 168 F.Supp.2d 1055, 1087 (E.D.Mo.2001). Some courts have also placed an emphasis, in determining ......