Thompson v. Quarterman
| Citation | 629 F.Supp.2d 665 |
| Decision Date | 29 November 2007 |
| Docket Number | Civil Case No. 06-148. |
| Parties | Robert Lee THOMPSON, Petitioner, v. Nathaniel QUARTERMAN, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas |
Patrick F. McCann, Attorney At Law, Houston, TX, for Petitioner.
Baxter Morgan, Akin & Almanza, Gena Blount Bunn, Texas Attorney General, Austin, TX, for Respondent.
Robert Lee Thompson is a Texas death row inmate. He was convicted of capital murder committed during a robbery and sentenced to death. Thompson has filed a federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus. (Docket Entry No. 7). The respondent, Nathaniel Quarterman, has moved for summary judgment. (Docket Entry No. 15). After carefully considering the pleadings, the state court record, and the applicable law, the court grants the respondent's summary judgment motion, denies Thompson's habeas petition, and declines to issue a Certificate of Appealability. Final judgment is entered by separate order.
The reasons for these rulings are set out in detail below.
On state habeas review, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals described the crime for which Thompson received a death sentence;
The State's evidence at trial showed that [Thompson] and Sammy Butler acted together in planning [an] armed robbery at the 7-Evenings Food Store. [Thompson] told Butler that this would be their last robbery and it was going to be "a big one." [Thompson], armed with a .25 caliber semiautomatic weapon, went into the convenience store to exchange a beer he had purchased earlier. Butler, armed with a .38 caliber revolver, came into the store with him.
[Thompson] approached Mubarakali Meredia, who was tending the counter, pointed his pistol at Mr. Meredia, and told him to open the cash register and hand over all of the money. [Thompson] shot Mr. Meredia in the abdomen when he did not move quickly enough. He shot at Mr. Meredia's cousin, Mansor Bhai Rahim Mohammed, who also worked at the shop, when he began running toward the back of the store.1
[Thompson] then shot Mr. Meredia three more times as he lay on the floor. He ordered Mr. Meredia to get up and get the money for him. Mr. Meredia did so. Then [Thompson] put his pistol to Mr. Meredia's neck and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He had run out of bullets. So [Thompson] hit Mr. Meredia on the head with the butt of his gun and struck him with the cash register drawer. Nonetheless, Mr. Meredia survived.
[Thompson] took the money and ran out of the store. Butler grabbed a stack of lottery tickets as he followed behind [Thompson]. [Thompson] jumped into the driver's seat of their car, while Butler got into the passenger's seat, rolled down his window, and fired two shots at Mr. Rahim who had run to the front door. One bullet hit Mr. Rahim in the chest, and he died.
Ex parte Thompson, 179 S.W.3d 549, 551 (Tex.Crim.App.2005) (footnotes in original).
The State of Texas indicted Thompson for capital murder committed during a robbery. Trans., p. 2.2 The trial court appointed two attorneys, Steven Greenlee and Connie Williams, to represent Thompson. The jury instructions submitted Thompson's capital-murder charge under three theories: (1) Thompson intentionally killed the victim during a robbery; (2) the Texas law allowed Thompson's conviction because he "solicited, encouraged, directed, aided, or attempted to aid Sammy Butler in shooting" the victim; and (3) Thompson was liable under a conspiracy theory because he "entered into an agreement with Sammy Butler to commit the felony offense of robbery" and "while in the course of said conspiracy, Sammy Butler caused the death of the [victim] ... in furtherance of the conspiracy and was an offense that should have been anticipated by" Thompson. Trans., p. 137. On March 25, 1998, the jury found Thompson guilty of capital murder. Trans., p. 143. The verdict form did not specify under which theory the jury convicted Thompson.
After the presentation of testimony and other evidence in a separate penalty phase, the jury answered the special issues prescribed by Texas law, as follows:
Special Issue No. 1
Do you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that there is a probability that the defendant, Robert Lee Thompson, would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society?
Do you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Robert Lee Thompson, the defendant himself, actually caused the death of Mansoor Bhai Rahim Mohammed, on the occasion in question, or if he did not actually cause the death of Mansoor Bhai Rahim Mohammed, that he intended to kill Mansoor Bhai Rahim Mohammed or another or that he anticipated that a human life would be taken?
Do you find from the evidence, taking into consideration all of the evidence, including the circumstances of the offense, the defendant's character and background, and the personal moral culpability of the defendant, Robert Lee Thompson, that there is a sufficient mitigating circumstance or circumstances to warrant that a sentence of life imprisonment rather than a death sentence be imposed?
Trans., pp. 154-56. The jury's answers to the special issues authorized the death penalty.
Thompson unsuccessfully appealed his conviction and sentence to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Thompson v. State, No. 73,128, 2003 WL 21466925 (Tex.Crim. App. June 25, 2003) (unpublished), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 1091, 124 S.Ct. 960, 157 L.Ed.2d 797 (2003). Thompson also sought state habeas relief while his direct appeal was pending. The trial-level state habeas court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law recommending that relief be denied. S.H., pp. 1099-1116. After receiving additional briefing, the Court of Criminal Appeals adopted the lower court's findings and conclusions and issued a published opinion denying habeas relief Ex parte Thompson, 179 S.W.3d 549 (Tex. Crim.App.2005).
This court appointed counsel to represent Thompson in his federal habeas proceedings. Thompson's federal habeas petition raises the following fifteen claims:
1. The trial court should have sustained trial counsel's objection when a police officer opined that Thompson was truthful when making his police statement.
2. The trial court failed to investigate a witness's claim that an unidentified juror made a racially derogatory comment.
3. Trial counsel's closing argument discussed Thompson's extraneous offenses in a manner that prejudiced his defense.
4. Trial counsel's punishment-phase closing arguments misstated the jury's duty under the, second special issue.
5. The trial court made comments during voir dire that improperly extended the Texas law of the parties to the punishment phase.
6. Trial counsel should have requested a lesser-included-offense instruction on felony murder or murder.
7. Trial counsel failed to object to good-character evidence about the victim.
8. Trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by consenting to the dismissal of a prospective juror.
9. Trial counsel was not present in the courtroom during the voir dire examination of one prospective juror.
10. Thompson's death sentence violates the Constitution because his codefendant Butler was convicted of a less severe crime.
11. Thompson is factually innocent of capital murder.
12. The prosecution suppressed a statement Butler made to the police.
13. Due process and equal protection requires reformation of Thompson's conviction and sentence because Butler was convicted of a lesser crime.
14. Trial counsel failed to prepare and present important mitigating evidence.
15. Trial counsel ignored available defensive strategies in the guilt/innocence phase.
The respondent has moved for summary judgment, (Docket Entry No. 15), arguing that federal procedural law bars judicial consideration of some claims and that all the claims lack merit. Thompson has filed motions seeking to augment the factual record. (Docket Entry Nos. 19, 21, 22). Thompson also asks this court to stay this federal proceeding to allow him to exhaust one of the claims in state court. (Docket Entry Nos. 20, 28). The respondent opposes those motions.
Barefoot v. Estelle, 463 U.S. 880, 103 S.Ct. 3383, 3392, 77 L.Ed.2d 1090 (1983); see also Moore v. Dempsey, 261 U.S. 86, 43 S.Ct. 265, 265, 67 L.Ed. 543 (1923) (). Principles of comity and federalism govern federal habeas proceedings, honoring the "presumption of finality and legality [that] attaches to [a petitioner's] conviction and sentence." Barefoot, 103 S.Ct. at 3392. The limits on both the availability and nature of habeas review guide this court's consideration of Thompson's federal petition.
The exhaustion and procedural default doctrines restrict a federal court's consideration of habeas claims. The federal courts have long required the exhaustion of state-court remedies. See Ex parte Royall, 117 U.S. 241, 6 S.Ct. 734, 740-41, 29 L.Ed. 868 (1886). To avoid the "`unseem[liness]' of a federal district court's overturning a state court conviction without the state courts having had an opportunity to correct the constitutional violation in the first instance," O'Sullivan v. Boerckel, 526 U.S. 838, 119 S.Ct. 1728, 1732, 144 L.Ed.2d 1 (1999), an inmate must raise his habeas claims in the highest state court before seeking federal relief. See 28 U.S.C. 2254(b)(2); Fisher v. Texas, ...
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