Voyles v. Watkins, GC 79-115-K-P.

• Decision Date: 13 May 1980
• Docket Number: No. GC 79-115-K-P.,GC 79-115-K-P.
• Parties: Jimmy VOYLES, Petitioner, v. John C. WATKINS, Commissioner, Mississippi Department of Corrections; Steve Hargett, Warden, Mississippi State Penitentiary; Johnny Price, Sheriff of Lee County, Mississippi; T. B. Bruce, State Executioner; and the State of Mississippi, Respondents, and William A. Allain, Attorney General of the State of Mississippi, Additional Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Mississippi

489 F. Supp. 901

Jimmy VOYLES, Petitioner, v. John C. WATKINS, Commissioner, Mississippi Department of Corrections; Steve Hargett, Warden, Mississippi State Penitentiary; Johnny Price, Sheriff of Lee County, Mississippi; T. B. Bruce, State Executioner; and the State of Mississippi, Respondents and William A. Allain, Attorney General of the State of Mississippi, Additional Respondent.

No. GC 79-115-K-P.

United States District Court, N. D. Mississippi, Greenville Division.

May 13, 1980.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Timothy N. Black, Washington, D. C., George Q. Evans and David W. Clark, Jackson, Miss., for petitioner.

Marvin L. White, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, Miss., for respondents.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

KEADY, Chief Judge.

In this habeas corpus proceeding, Jimmy Voyles, petitioner, attacks the constitutionality of his June 1977 conviction in the Circuit Court of Lee County, Mississippi, of the crime of capital murder and imposition of the death sentence. 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The conviction and sentence were affirmed September 20, 1978, by the Supreme Court of Mississippi. Voyles v. State, 362 So.2d 1236 (Miss.1978). On May 14, 1979, the Supreme Court of the United States denied his petition for writ of certiorari. Petitioner thereupon filed in the state supreme court an application for leave to file a petition for writ of error corum nobis and/or habeas corpus, which was denied July 18. After exhaustion of post-conviction remedies, this court assumed jurisdiction of the habeas petition and stayed execution July 20.

On August 8, the cause was assigned to the United States Magistrate for report and recommendation, including a statement of what issues, if any, required an evidentiary hearing. The magistrate submitted his report and recommendation on October 29, recommending that the writ issue, or, alternatively that the death sentence be vacated for resentencing. The magistrate also recommended that because of the nature of the case, an evidentiary hearing be held on the issues of alleged prosecutorial misconduct and ineffective assistance of counsel. The magistrate concluded his report by recommending that the remainder of petitioner's claims be denied. Timely objections to the magistrate's report were filed by petitioner as well as respondents. Reserving ruling on the magistrate's recommendation that habeas relief be granted, the court on January 16, 1980, conducted an evidentiary hearing on the issues suggested by the magistrate. At this hearing both sides offered oral and documentary evidence. Post-trial briefs having been submitted, the case is now ready for disposition on the merits upon the full record in the state court trial and appeal as well as upon the transcript of the supplemental hearing in this federal district court. As required by Rule 52(a), F.R.Civ.P., findings of fact and conclusions of law are incorporated herein as follows:

I. FINDINGS OF FACT

(a) Background Evidence at Trial.

As established by evidence, independent of the testimony of Hoyt Mayo, Bernice Griggs, 41 years of age, disappeared on March 12, 1976. She resided with her daughter, Glenda Phillips, near Amory, Mississippi, and had been dating petitioner, age 30, for about two months. Four months later, on July 13 or 14, 1976, Mrs. Griggs' body was found in Bucy Bottom Creek about a mile south of the creek bridge. On the day of her disappearance, the victim was last seen leaving her home about 5 p. m. with petitioner and his 18 year old nephew, Hoyt Mayo. Glenda was told they were going to visit her sister who was in a training school. They left riding in a brown Chevrolet Malibu automobile which Mrs. Griggs had purchased earlier that day at Columbus. On Sunday, March 14, petitioner and Mayo saw Glenda Phillips at her home, and petitioner told her that her mother had gone to Texas. Two weeks later, petitioner again saw Glenda Phillips at her home. On this occasion he told her that he was keeping the Malibu at Mrs. Griggs' request and he had received a letter from her which he would bring on his next trip. On June 8, petitioner attempted to sell the Malibu to a Tupelo car dealer for $2,300 after advising he had secured the car for his wife from a relative in Memphis. At or about this time, petitioner was contacted by a representative of the finance company holding past due notes on the Malibu; petitioner advised him that Mrs. Griggs was in Texas and he would get in touch with her about returning the car to Mississippi. Subsequently, petitioner told the same agent he would go to Texas and return the car for $150. Petitioner did not indicate to the finance company agent that he already had possession of the vehicle.

Mayo, chief prosecution witness, testified that petitioner told him that he was going to "Bucy Bottom to whip this woman," and that petitioner drove him and Mrs. Griggs to a bridge over Bucy Bottom Creek where petitioner had her get out of the car and he began beating her with his fists until she became unconscious. According to Mayo, petitioner got back in the automobile, drove it twice over Mrs. Griggs, and then threw her body into the creek. Mayo said that petitioner drove the Malibu about a mile down the road, stopped, took $90 from Griggs' purse, and hid her clothes in the car trunk. After that, Mayo said that they went to a wrestling match and spent the night at a motel. Mayo said petitioner told him that he killed the victim because she would not put the car in his name.

In contrast, petitioner, testifying in his own behalf, stated that Mayo, who had been drinking, ordered him to stop the car at the creek bridge, where Mayo made the victim get out and then beat her with his fists and a small lug wrench. Petitioner said he was fearful of Mayo who told him not to interfere. According to petitioner, Mayo directed him to start the automobile and back up, when he accidentally backed over the victim. Petitioner insisted that it was Mayo who threw the victim's body into the creek and later took money from her purse.

(b) Evidence at Habeas Hearing.

During October 1976, petitioner and Mayo had both been arrested on false pretense charges and, while in jail on that offense, they were charged with the Griggs' homicide. In a statement given to law enforcement officers, petitioner implicated Mayo in the murder, while Mayo denied having any knowledge of the crime. In November 1976 the grand jury indicted Mayo for murder and petitioner as accessory after the fact. David Sparks, Tupelo attorney serving as part-time public defender, was court-appointed to represent petitioner. Joseph Timmons, also of Tupelo as well as a part-time public defender, was appointed to defend Mayo. Several weeks later, Mayo employed Jimmy Shelton as his attorney; Timmons withdrew from the case and later assisted Sparks with petitioner's defense. Upon Shelton's advice, Mayo gave a statement implicating petitioner in the murder of Mrs. Griggs and he was given a lie detector test. Largely on the basis of Mayo's statement, the prosecuting attorney in February 1977 obtained a new indictment charging petitioner with capital murder, and dismissed the accessory indictment. The murder indictment against Mayo, however, was not nol prossed and remained pending. The district attorney explained that he had not then reached a decision about how to handle the case against Mayo.

Thus, separate murder indictments against petitioner and Mayo were set for the May-June 1977 term, with petitioner's trial set the week before Mayo's. Shelton advised the district attorney that Mayo was willing to testify for the state in petitioner's trial, even though Mayo's testimony would be self-incriminating as an accessory. Shelton believed that Mayo would be given consideration for his becoming a state's witness in event petitioner was convicted. Shelton as well as Mayo, however, stated that no promises or inducements were made by the prosecution or law enforcement officers to secure Mayo's testimony. After petitioner's conviction for capital murder, Mayo's case was continued by agreement until the August term of court. On August 19, Mayo was indicted as an accessory after the fact of petitioner's murder of Mrs. Griggs, and the murder indictment against Mayo was dismissed. On September 16, Mayo entered a guilty plea to the accessory indictment and received a five year sentence, two years of which were suspended on good behavior.

(c) Was There Prosecutorial Misconduct?

The issue of prosecutorial misconduct relates to whether the prosecution had an agreement or understanding with Mayo to secure his testimony. Petitioner contends that such an understanding existed and the prosecution's failure to disclose it was violative of his due process rights. Lending credence to this claim, David Sparks, petitioner's trial counsel, in an affidavit, stated that Thomas Gardner, the assistant district attorney, told him that in the state's attempt to obtain evidence against Mayo or petitioner "we the state held out the `bait' and Mayo was the one who took it." At the habeas hearing, Sparks affirmed that Gardner made this statement after the evidence was all in and before the return of the jury verdict. Sparks was inclined to believe that this was told him in jest and had no serious meaning. This was the first discussion he had with the prosecutor's office about Mayo's testimony. Timmons, who assisted Sparks at petitioner's trial, stated that he, too, heard Gardner make the statement at the courthouse and did not know what was meant by it. Both attorneys, however, testified they knew of no agreement made by the prosecution to secure Mayo's testimony, but they expected he would be given consideration at time of sentencing for having been a witness for the state. Shelton, also called as a witness by petitioner, stated that Mayo wanted to testify against petitioner and he did not object since Mayo had already given a statement implicating petitioner in the slaying. Shelton stated that h...