Trueblood v. Anderson

• Decision Date: 30 July 2001
• Docket Number: No. 3:00 CV 125 AS.,3:00 CV 125 AS.
• Parties: Joseph L. TRUEBLOOD Petitioner, v. Rondle ANDERSON, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Indiana

156 F.Supp.2d 1056

Joseph L. TRUEBLOOD Petitioner, v. Rondle ANDERSON, Respondent.

No. 3:00 CV 125 AS.

United States District Court, N.D. Indiana, South Bend Division.

July 30, 2001.

F. Thomas Schornhorst, Orange Beach, AL, for Petitioner.

Suzannah B. Wilson, Thomas D. Perkins, Michael A. Hurst, Indiana Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, for Respondent.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ALLEN SHARP, District Judge.

Petitioner, Joseph L. Trueblood, pled guilty to three counts of murder before a judge in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and was sentenced to death by that judge. The petition was filed by counsel in this Court on August 28, 2000 and oral argument was heard in Lafayette, Indiana on April 5, 2001. At this court's request, the parties filed supplemental briefs concerning two recent opinions of the Seventh Circuit on July 23, 2001. This Court greatly appreciates the high degree of professional competence displayed by appointed counsel for this petitioner.

The extensive state record has been filed and examined by this Court under the mandates of Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 83 S.Ct. 745, 9 L.Ed.2d 770 (1963) and under the mandates of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b). Immediate reference is made to the two decisions in this case by the Supreme Court of Indiana, namely Trueblood v. State, 587 N.E.2d 105 (Ind. 1992), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 897, 113 S.Ct. 278, 121 L.Ed.2d 205 (1992), and Trueblood v. State, 715 N.E.2d 1242 (Ind.1999), cert. denied. 531 U.S. 858, 121 S.Ct. 143, 148 L.Ed.2d 94 (2000). This petitioner is now confined on death row at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana in this district.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

The Indiana Supreme Court described the murders of Susan (Bowsher) Hughes and her children, Ashlyn and William, as follows:

Trueblood, a former boyfriend of Susan Bowsher, was upset with Susan because she was going to return to her ex-husband. He took a gun from his parents' house. A few days later on August 15, 1988, he picked up Susan and her two children, Ashlyn, age two and a half, and William, age seventeen months. While they were in his automobile Trueblood shot each of them in the head, killing all three. He then drove to his brother's home and borrowed a shovel. He took the victims to a secluded area and buried them in a shallow grave.

Trueblood v. State, 587 N.E.2d 105, 107 (Ind.1992). Trueblood was arrested on August 16, 1988 and charged on August 22, 1988 with the murder of Susan, Ashlyn, and Billy. T.R. 1-4.¹ The State of Indiana amended the charge on September 2, 1988, adding three counts seeking the death penalty for each of the murders. T.R. 24-27.

George Wilder, the Public Defender for Tippecanoe County, was appointed as counsel to Trueblood by Judge Kenneth P. Thayer of the Tippecanoe Superior Court, and entered his appearance on August 28, 1988. T.R. 13. On October 6, 1988, while represented by Wilder, Trueblood pled guilty to the murder of Susan. T.R. 55, 680. During that hearing, Trueblood testified that he killed Susan "(b)ecause she'd already shot herself twice, and after she shot herself the second time, she looked at me and I pulled her towards me, she looked at me and tried to tell me to kill her by trying to move her mouth and motioning with her hand." T.R. 695. The prosecutor attempted to inquire into the deaths of the children, but the court sustained an objection by Trueblood's counsel. T.R. 700. The prosecutor then said, "Mr. Trueblood, you understand that simply because you pled guilty to Count III, murder of one Susan Bowsher Hughes has no bearing on the remaining counts? Do you understand that?" Id. When Trueblood answered affirmatively, the prosecutor continued with "you are also aware that the state fully intends to proceed with those counts? ... Including the death— the allegation of the death count involving this particular information, do you understand that?" Id. Trueblood again responded affirmatively. Id. The court accepted the plea, and Mr. Wilder asked the court to waive the thirty-day sentencing requirement and continue sentencing until after the trial of the remaining counts, which motion the court granted. T.R. 702. The prosecutor then recommended that the court advise Trueblood not only of the potential jail terms, as it had done prior to accepting the plea, but also of the potential death penalty. T.R. 703. Wilder objected, stating that "this is a simple count of murder as it stands right now, Your Honor, for the purposes of this count. The only possible penalty he can face as of now would be the thirty to sixty." Id. The prosecutor responded, "But my point being what the statute provides is the Court is obliged to inform the defend—any defendant of the potential penalties and in this case, the way it—even the way it's played out up to this point, that is a potential penalty." Id. The court agreed "that is a potential penalty," and Wilder withdrew his objection. Id. The court then began, "[s]o I'll so advise the ..." and the prosecutor stepped in, saying "[a]nd Mr. Trueblood, does that have any effect on your plea of guilty here this afternoon, being so advised?" Id. Trueblood responded, "[n]o," and the hearing was concluded. Id.

Although the trial was initially set in December, 1988, it was continued twice before Judge Thayer transferred the cause to Judge Ronald Melichar in the Tippecanoe Circuit Court on April 28, 1989. T.R. 149. Judge Melichar initially set a trial date of October 31, 1989 upon taking the case. However, on August 22, 1989, George Wilder withdrew his appearance upon his resignation from the position of Tippecanoe County Public Defender. T.R. 152. Judge Melichar then appointed Thomas O'Brien as lead counsel and Michael J. O'Reilly as co-counsel on August 28, 1989. T.R. 156. Those counsel moved for a continuance, and on October 2, 1989, Judge Melichar continued the trial to February 13, 1990. T.R. 166.

On December 6, 1989, Trueblood, by counsel, filed a verified petition to withdraw his plea of guilty to the murder of Susan Bowsher Hughes, arguing that the attorney who had counseled Trueblood to plead guilty was no longer representing him and that it would be a "manifest injustice" under Ind.Code 35-35-1-4(c) "to require [Trueblood's] defense to be presented on a theory that his current attorneys were not involved in formulating." T.R. 263. On December 20, 1989, the court denied that motion, finding that no fair and just reason for withdrawal existed and that Trueblood had failed to proved that withdrawal of the plea was necessary to correct a manifest injustice. T.R. 286. Trueblood then filed a motion demanding sentencing on the count to which he had pled on December 28, 1989, but the court denied that motion at a hearing on January 11, 1990. T.R. 299, 361.

The court summoned a special venire beginning on February 13, 1990 for the purpose of selecting a jury for the trial of Trueblood, and began voir dire on that day. T.R. 405. Voir dire continued on February 14, 15, and 16, and the jury was finally seated and sequestered on February 20, 1990. T.R. 454. On February 21, 1990, the court gave its preliminary instructions, heard the opening statement from the prosecution and the waiver of a statement by the defense, and the first presentation of evidence, including the testimony of William and Christine Hughes, parents of Susan Bowsher Hughes' ex-husband, regarding Susan's activities on the day of the murder. T.R. 455, 722 et seq., 795 et seq. Susan and the children had been living with the Hughes for the two weeks prior to the murder in a reconciliation with her ex-husband. T.R. 727.

Trueblood's twin brother William began his testimony on the afternoon of February 21. T.R. 818. William testified that Trueblood arrived at William's apartment on the evening of the murder and told him "he'd just shot Susan and the kids were dead." T.R. 821. William then asked who killed the kids, and Trueblood responded that he had killed the kids. Id. Trueblood then asked to borrow a shovel and left to bury the bodies in a woods where the family often hunted. T.R. 829. Trueblood returned that evening and took a shower at William's apartment and talked with William about the murder, explaining that he had killed the children because he was afraid they would tell on him. T.R. 839. William's testimony extended into the following morning, February 22. T.R. 866.

After William's testimony, the court had an extended colloquy with the lawyers regarding the admission of the autopsy photographs. T.R. 988-1029. Trueblood was present throughout the display of the photographs during the evidentiary ruling, but when the pathologist began showing the photographs during his testimony, Trueblood asked to be excused from the courtroom. T.R. 1092. After the presentation of evidence on February 22, 1990, Trueblood met with his attorneys and his mother at the Tippecanoe County Jail and decided to plead guilty to the murders of the two children. T.R. 1139.

Thus, on the morning of February 23, 1990, Trueblood withdrew his pleas of not guilty to the murders of the children and entered pleas of guilty to both counts. T.R. 1116-71. Again, no bargain was made with the prosecution. T.R. 1136-37. Trueblood admitted the bare acts of shooting each child, but his attorneys objected to eliciting any further details of the murders. T.R. 1140, 1142. The court then set the hearing on the penalty phase for March 1, 1990, and asked the probation officer to prepare a pre-sentencing investigation report prior to the hearing. T.R. 1163.

Probation Officer Joe Hooker interviewed Trueblood as a part of the presentence investigation on February 26, 1990, and during that unsworn interview, Trueblood told Hooker that he had not killed the children, but had pled to doing so because he was convinced the jury would sentence him to death. T.R. 651-62. Trueblood's attorneys then filed a petition to withdraw...