Weddell v. Weber, 20740.
| Decision Date | 12 January 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 20740.,20740. |
| Citation | 604 N.W.2d 274,2000 SD 3 |
| Parties | James WEDDELL, Petitioner and Appellant, v. Douglas WEBER, Warden, South Dakota State Penitentiary, Appellee. |
| Court | South Dakota Supreme Court |
Terry Pechota of Viken, Viken, Pechota, Leach & Dewell, Rapid City, South Dakota, Attorneys for petitioner and appellant.
Mark Barnett, Attorney General, Craig M. Eichstadt, Deputy Attorney General, Pierre, South Dakota, Attorneys for appellee.
[¶ 1.] James Weddell was convicted of first-degree manslaughter for the murder of Randy D. Caldwell and sentenced to 80 years in prison. After his direct appeal, he submitted an application for writ of habeas corpus. The habeas court denied him any relief but issued a certificate of probable cause. Weddell appeals and we affirm.
[¶ 2.] On February 28, 1986, twenty-seven year old Caldwell spent the day with friends in Wagner, South Dakota. It was established that a long-standing "Hatfields and McCoy" relationship existed between the Greger family and some Native American Indians in Wagner. The feud had been on-going throughout the day. That evening, Caldwell, a friend of Troy Greger, was ultimately engaged in a fistfight with Enos Weston while Greger was fighting Rayla Little.
[¶ 3.] While Caldwell was straddling Weston, Michael Honomichl and Weddell got out of a nearby-parked car, along with at least three other people, and ran towards the fight. Although the evidence was inconsistent as to what weapons they brandished, it is uncontroverted that both Honomichl and Weddell carried weapons. Greger testified that he saw Honomichl hit Caldwell in the side of the head with a jack. Witnesses at trial recounted that Weddell struck Caldwell once, twice or at least four times. Some witnesses testified that Weddell hit Caldwell with a wooden club, while at least one witness testified that Weddell used an iron bar. There was also testimony that Weddell struck Caldwell on the left side of his head. One witness testified that Weddell was the only person who struck Caldwell; he struck Caldwell so hard with a tire iron that Caldwell's body would jump. Within a few minutes of the arrival of Honomichl and Weddell, Caldwell was dead.
[¶ 4.] Dr. Brad Randall, a forensic pathologist, performed an autopsy on March 1, 1986. His final summary read, in part:
At autopsy the principal finding is that of multiple injuries to the head and neck. The most prominent injury is that of a linear abrasion and contusion extending across the left side of the jaw and neck. The external injury patterns are those consistent with having been produced by a rounded blunt instrument. Associated with this point of impact is a fractured left mandible. Although no other bones including the skull are broken, the brain stem does show changes of blunt contusional injury. The blow to the left side of the neck would appear to have been the most immediately fatal on the basis of brain stem concussion.
* * * * * *
The blow to the top right side of the head shows characteristics consistent with having been inflicted by the blunt end of a tire iron. This blow does not appear to have produced any significant underlying injury to the brain, although again, the degree of brain injury often cannot be accurately ascertained when the individual dies shortly after the blow is sustained.
* * * * * *
The cause of death, therefore, in this case is head trauma consistent with that inflicted by a heavy rounded blunt instrument striking the decedent. The most severe and probably most immediately lethal injury was that sustained on the left side of the jaw and neck. The manner of death is consistent with homicide.
Autopsy report at 1-2, Exhibit 6 (emphasis added).
[¶ 5.] On March 5, 1986, Dr. Randall appeared before a grand jury and testified as to the cause of death of Caldwell. Dr. Randall testified that Caldwell sustained a broken jaw on the left side, "one large linear or straight abrasion with underlying bruising ... over the left neck and jaw area, extending slightly back from the end of the jaw to behind the left ear," and "a second roughly circular area of bruising [sic] present over the right ... temporal parietal area."1 Grand Jury Transcript at 3. A portion of the examination of Dr. Randall regarding the cause of death follows:
Grand Jury Transcript at 7. After all the testimony was offered, the grand jury returned an indictment in the matter of State v. James Weddell, Michael Honomichl and Enos Weston. The indictment was for murder in the second degree as well as manslaughter in the first degree.
[¶ 6.] Prior to trial, Weddell filed a motion to sever his case from his co-defendants. He argued that "it was possible that each co-defendant would implicate the other at a joint trial and severance was necessary to avoid prejudice to defendant." See State v. Weddell, 410 N.W.2d 553, 554 (S.D.1987)
. The trial court denied his motion and the case proceeded to trial.
[¶ 7.] On April 29, 1986, trial commenced. On the fifth day of trial, Weddell renewed his motion to sever the case. Again, the motion was denied. During trial, Dr. Randall testified that Caldwell's death was caused by multiple blows to the head. A portion of the examination follows:
Trial Transcript at 490-91. Upon cross-examination by Weddell's counsel, Dr. Randall testified that the blows sustained by Caldwell acted in concert to cause his death. This portion of the cross-examination follows:
Trial Transcript at 497-98. (emphasis added). Dr. Randall testified that the injury inflicted to the left side of Caldwell's head would have been caused by a car jack while the injury to the right side would have been inflicted by a tire iron.
[¶ 8.] Weddell took the stand in his own defense and testified that he hit Caldwell in the lower body with a wooden club, but never hit him in the head. In fact, on cross-examination, he was asked where exactly he hit Caldwell and he replied: "I can't tell you exactly, but it wasn't - it wasn't in the head, that is for sure." He further testified that Honomichl delivered the fatal blow to the left side of Caldwell's head with the shaft and ratchet assembly of a car jack. On the other hand, Honomichl testified that he carried only a red funnel and swung at Caldwell with his fist, but missed. He further testified that Weddell struck Caldwell with a wooden club on the left side of Caldwell's head; then, once Caldwell fell, Weddell struck him a second time.
[¶ 9.] There was also testimony regarding the sounds of the blows being struck. One witness testified that he heard a popping sound when Weddell hit Caldwell. Dr. Randall associated this sound with the blow to the left side of Caldwell's head. The...
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