Weathers v. Stephens
| Decision Date | 31 August 2015 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL NO. SA-06-CA-868-XR |
| Parties | OBIE D. WEATHERS, III, TDCJ No. 999396, Petitioner, v. WILLIAM STEPHENS, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Texas |
Petitioner filed this federal habeas corpus action pursuant to 28 United States Code §2254 challenging his May, 2001 Bexar County conviction in cause no. 2000-CR-2916 for capital murder and his sentence of death for the fatal shooting of Ted Church during the course of a robbery. For the reasons set forth below, Petitioner is entitled to neither federal habeas corpus relief nor a Certificate of Appealability from this Court.
On the evening of February 4, 2000, Petitioner entered Pierce's Ice House, a tavern in San Antonio, Texas, holding a handgun and wearing a pillow case over his head in which he had cut eye holes.1 Petitioner informed the black patrons of the bar to remain calm and proceeded to rob thebar's white patrons.2 After robbing the white patrons, Petitioner escorted the waitress to the cashregister and directed her at gun point to open the machine and remove the drawer.3 When the waitress stumbled while carrying the cash drawer toward him, Petitioner pointed his gun at her head.4 At that moment, bar patron Ted Church swung at, and grabbed, Petitioner.5 The two men struggled from the end of the bar toward the door.6 During their struggle, Petitioner shot Church twice in the head and once in the abdomen.7 Petitioner exited the establishment with more than two hundred dollars.8 Church was taken to the hospital within minutes of the arrival of police and emergency medical personnel but, despite multiple surgeries, died weeks later from irreparable damage to his pancreas resulting from his abdominal gunshot wound.9
On June 1, 2000, a Bexar County grand jury indicted Petitioner in cause no. 2000-CR-2916 on a single count of capital murder, to wit, intentionally causing the death of Ted Church on or about February 4, 2000 by shooting Church with a deadly weapon, i.e., a handgun, while in the course of committing and attempting to commit the robbery of Church.10
The guilt-innocence phase of Petitioner's capital murder trial commenced on April 24, 2001. In addition to the testimony summarized above, the prosecution presented evidence showing (1)shortly before committing the robbery and fatal shooting of Church at Pierce's Ice House, Petitioner beat and robbed an elderly man (Ernest Leonard Johnson) who resided close to Pierce's Ice House,11 (2) the description of the clothing worn by the assailant who assaulted Johnson matched the clothingworn by the person who robbed Pierce's Ice House and shot Ted Church,12 (3) Johnson and another eyewitness both identified Petitioner as Johnson's assailant from a police photo array,13 (4) while executing search warrants for Petitioner's sister's apartment on February 14 and 15, 2000, police found a plaid flannel shirt\jacket and a pair of tennis shoes which matched the descriptions of the clothing worn by both Johnson's assailant and the robber who shot Church,14 (5) when police detectives went to arrest Petitioner at his place of employment on February 15, 2000, Petitioner violently resisted arrest and attempted to flee, injuring both of the officers who arrested him,15 (6) DNA testing performed on a pillowcase with holes cut in it found just outside the Ice House and a partially smoked cigar found inside Johnson's trailer home established (a) Ted Church could not be ruled out as a possible source of the DNA contained on the blood stains found on the pillowcase and(b) Petitioner could not be excluded as a possible source of the DNA found on the partially smoked cigar,16 and (7) following his arrest, Petitioner gave a voluntary written statement in which he confessed he had assaulted an old man, robbed the white patrons of the Ice House, and shot a bar patron who tried to stop him from leaving the bar.17 The defense presented only one witness at the guilt-innocence phase of trial, Petitioner's mother, who testified Petitioner (1) had been in Special Education classes in elementary school, (2) dropped out of school his senior year of high school, (3) moved out of his parents' home about a month before his arrest, (4) had suffered greatly when his grandmother was killed in a car accident in 1997, but (5) appeared to be doing well despite the fact he was under a lot of pressure in the weeks before the murder.18 After deliberating less than three hours, on April 30, 2001, the jury returned its verdict, finding Petitioner guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of capital murder as charged in the indictment.19
The punishment phase of Petitioner's capital murder trial commenced on May 1, 2001. The prosecution presented evidence showing (1) on November 29, 1995, while attending Poe MiddleSchool, Petitioner phoned in a fake bomb threat which resulted in the evacuation of all buildings on campus and a search for explosive materials20; (2) on April 3, 1997, while attending Sam Houston High School, Petitioner followed an older female student into the girls' room and sexually assaulted her21; (3) on May 6, 1998, Petitioner violently assaulted a different female student at Sam Houston High School, grabbing her by the neck and throwing her over a table, knocking computer equipment off the table, all while the classroom teacher attempted to get Petitioner to release his grip on the young woman's throat22; (4) on December 8, 1998, Petitioner was arrested on his high school campusfor possession of marihuana and received a probated sentence for that offense23; (5) on October 8, 1999, Petitioner and an accomplice attempted to burglarize a habitation but were arrested after a neighbor of the elderly female victim followed Petitioner and his accomplice and the police located the pair at a nearby fast food restaurant and, on January 6, 2000, Petitioner pleaded guilty to thatoffense and received a probated sentence24; (6) on January 19, 2000, while on probation from his attempted burglary conviction, Petitioner burglarized another home and took a Play Station game console which he later pawned25; (7) on February 2, 2000, Petitioner burglarized another home andtook multiple firearms, including a .22 caliber Luger pistol which he used to fatally shoot two people the next two days26; (8) on February 3, 2000, Petitioner robbed and fatally shot an elderly woman after breaking into her residence27; (9) on February 4, 2000, immediately before robbingPierce's Ice House and shooting Ted Church, Petitioner not only beat and robbed Ernest Leonard Johnson but also sexually assaulted him28; and (10) during his pretrial detention at the Bexar CountyAdult Detention Center, Petitioner assaulted a fellow inmate with a chair while the other inmate was playing dominoes and, in a separate incident on June 1, 2000, struck a guard in the chest.29
The defense called five witnesses at the punishment phase of trial: (1) Petitioner's former employer at a seafood restaurant, who testified Petitioner (a) worked for him for three years, was "an excellent employee" with a "great work history," (b) worked great with other employees, © worked his way up to become the youngest employee ever promoted to supervisor because of his skills, (d) was let go because he began missing work and became a little disobedient, but (e) was rehired shortly thereafter because of his excellent work record30; (2) the wife of Petitioner's deceased minister, who testified (a) Petitioner and his family attended her late husband's church, (b) Petitioner was always very respectful and obedient to her and got along well with other children, © Petitioner served as a junior usher greeting people and pointing them to seats, and (d) Petitioner's family and their church had shown Petitioner the way to salvation31; (3) Petitioner's cell mate at the BCADCon June 1, 2000, who testified (a) he had been Petitioner's cell mate for three weeks before that date and had never seen Petitioner have a problem with the guard in question, (b) when the guard refused Petitioner's request to pass an envelope to another inmate, Petitioner said "bitch" and threw the envelope up in the air, © the guard opened their cell door and asked Petitioner "do you have a problem?", (d) Petitioner stepped back from the open doorway and put his hands behind his back, (e) the guard struck Petitioner in the stomach and Petitioner went down, (f) the guard continued to strike Petitioner and dragged Petitioner out of their cell, (g) the guard then kicked and hit Petitioner, (h) Petitioner did not fight back, (I) a second guard arrived and struck Petitioner, (j) yet another officer ran upstairs and struck and kicked Petitioner for three or four minutes, and (k) he never saw Petitioner threaten the guard or strike the guard32; (4) Petitioner's older sister, who testified (a) Petitioner lived with her for a period in 1999 and then returned to reside with her in January, 2000, (b) Petitioner found a job at West Telemarketing right away after he was released from jail and worked there for almost a month before his arrest, (c) she was unaware Petitioner had any problems with his probation, (d) beyond the fact Petitioner was taller and larger than other students, she remembered nothing particularly remarkable about Petitioner's years in elementary school, (e) Petitioner was not disruptive in their home although she had to be very honest and straight-forward with Petitioner, (f) Petitioner demonstrated responsibility by serving as an usher at their church, where Petitioner always complied with church rules, and (g) Petitioner had some disciplinary problems in school and generally does better when he is closely monitored33; and (5) a former highschool teacher of Petitioner, who testified (a) she ta...
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