Williams v. Allen
| Decision Date | 17 September 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 07-11393.,07-11393. |
| Citation | 542 F.3d 1326 |
| Parties | Herbert WILLIAMS, Jr., Petitioner-Appellant, v. Commissioner Richard F. ALLEN, Respondent-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Inc., George H. Kendall, Holland & Knight, New York City, for Williams.
J. Clayton Crenshaw, Montgomery, AL, for Allen.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.
Before BIRCH, DUBINA and WILSON, Circuit Judges.
Herbert Williams, Jr., was convicted of capital murder for the 1988 killing of Timothy Hasser. An Alabama jury recommended by a vote of 9-3 that Williams be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, but the trial judge overrode that recommendation and sentenced Williams to death. Following the completion of state postconviction proceedings, Williams filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Williams now appeals the district court's denial of that petition, arguing (1) that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel as to the penalty phase of his trial; (2) that the district court erred in finding his Batson v. Kentucky claim unexhausted; and (3) that the district court improperly denied him an evidentiary hearing. After thorough review of the record, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.
On November 2, 1988, Officer Mark Harrell of the Jackson, Alabama police department observed a white Porsche stopped in the emergency lane on the McCorquodale Bridge, approximately 80 miles north of Mobile. Officer Harrell stopped to provide assistance. The driver, nineteen-year-old Herbert Williams, Jr., told Harrell that he thought the car was running out of gas or was "a lemon," and asked the officer where a gas station was located. Officer Harrell followed Williams to a nearby station and became suspicious when he noticed a substance that appeared to be blood dripping from the vehicle's rear hatch. The officer also observed that Williams was having difficulty operating the vehicle because of its manual transmission.
Upon arriving at the gas station, Officer Harrell looked inside the Porsche and saw the blood-covered body of a white male lying in the back of the vehicle. Officer Harrell placed Williams in the back of his patrol car and returned to the Porsche, where he determined that the victim, later identified as Timothy Hasser, was deceased. Hasser had been shot in the head three times, and weights were tied to his ankles. After additional investigation, it was determined that Hasser was the owner of the Porsche. Officer Harrell read Williams his Miranda rights and placed him under arrest. Subsequently, Williams informed the police that a .38 caliber handgun containing his fingerprints was located under the front seat of the Porsche. This gun was later identified as the murder weapon.
Williams was indicted for murder in the course of a robbery in violation of Ala. Code § 13A-5-40(a)(2) (1975). After Williams' first two court-appointed attorneys withdrew due to conflicts of interest, the court appointed James Lackey and James Wilson to represent him. Williams' trial commenced in February 1990 in the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama.
During jury selection, Williams' counsel raised a Batson objection1 based on the state's use of peremptory challenges to exclude four African Americans from the jury. At the direction of the court, the state provided explanations for each of these strikes. Upon hearing the proffered reasons, the court denied Williams' motion.
At trial, the state sought to establish that Williams and Hasser did not know each other and that Williams had targeted Hasser for his Porsche. In addition to the evidence described above, the state relied on various inconsistent statements that Williams had given the police following his arrest. The state also introduced physical evidence discovered at Williams' place of residence, including diary entries indicating that the murder and robbery were planned in advance. Additionally, a number of witnesses testified that Williams had told them prior to the murder that he would be getting a Porsche.
The defense's theory was that Hasser was murdered during the course of a drug deal gone awry. Defense counsel attempted to establish that Williams dealt drugs for Hasser, who had promised to give him the Porsche as payment. In support of this theory, the defense offered witness testimony suggesting that Williams and Hasser knew one another. In addition, the defense relied on handwritten documents discovered in the Porsche that purported to convey the car from Hasser to Williams. According to the defense, drug dealers shot Hasser after he and Williams drove to Creola for a drug transaction, and the dealers ordered Williams to dispose of the body.
On February 16, 1990, the jury returned a verdict finding Williams guilty of capital murder.
The penalty phase began immediately following the return of the verdict. The state presented no additional evidence. The defense offered one witness: Williams' mother, Arcola Williams. In brief testimony, Ms. Williams stated that her son lived primarily with his grandmother in Mobile until he was four years old, and was later sent to stay with an aunt in Leroy during the school year. At age six, Williams returned to live at his parents' home, where, according to Ms. Williams, his father, Herbert Williams, Sr., beat him "many times." Ms. Williams stated that "children have to be whipped sometimes," but that it "seem[ed] like he whipped him more than he should." When Williams was a teenager, his father "beat him from time to time with his fists." Ms. Williams described one incident in which her husband took Williams into a bedroom and was "pretty rough with him," though she noted that she was not in the room. Afterwards, her son called the police from a neighbor's house and said his father "had choked him and did everything to him while he was in there."
Ms. Williams further testified that while Williams was growing up, her husband drank heavily, used marijuana, and beat her in their son's presence. She concluded her testimony by stating that her husband was presently incarcerated for molesting and raping the couple's mentally retarded daughter.
Following deliberations, the jury returned with a recommendation that Williams be sentenced to life in prison without parole. The vote consisted of nine jurors in favor of life without parole, and three in favor of death.
The court set a sentencing hearing for April 11, 1990, and ordered a presentence investigation report (PSI). During the sentencing hearing, neither the state nor the defense presented additional evidence. In their argument to the court, defense counsel relied on the mitigating factors that they had raised previously, as well as the PSI, which stated that Williams' mother "has an excellent reputation in the Thomasville area." The judge responded: "I don't think anyone ... would question that his mother has an excellent reputation and that his mother and grandmother are extremely good people." At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge requested a proposed order for each of the two possible sentences, noting that he "just need[ed] to think about it more."
On April 26, 1990, the court sentenced Williams to death. Of the eight statutory aggravating circumstances available under Alabama law, the court found the existence of one: that the murder was committed while the defendant was engaged in the commission of a robbery. See Ala.Code § 13A-5-49(4). In addition, the court stated that it attached
The court found a total of three mitigating circumstances—two statutory and one non-statutory. The statutory mitigators were Williams' lack of prior criminal activity, see id. § 13A-5-51(1), and his youth at the time of the offense, see id. § 13A-5-51(7). As to the latter, however, the court stated: "The reptilian coldness with which this criminal act was devised and perpetrated vitiates any contention that the innocence of youth was a factor in the murder of Timothy Hasser." The non-statutory mitigator was the court's finding "that the Defendant's father was violent and abusive towards him as a child." The court concluded, however, that "[t]his fact ... makes the Defendant no less accountable for his action." Furthermore, the court stated, Williams' upbringing did not lack positive aspects: 2
In addition to these mitigating factors, the court stated that it gave "very serious consideration and substantial weight" to the jury's recommendation of life imprisonment. However, the court determined that "the aggravating circumstance in this case outweighs the mitigating circumstances," and therefore "the punishment should be death notwithstanding the jury's contrary recommendation."
Williams' trial attorneys withdrew from the case after sentencing, and new counsel was appointed to represent him on appeal. On August 27, 1993, the Alabama Supreme Court affirmed Williams' conviction and sentence. Ex parte Williams, 627 So.2d 999 (Ala.1993). The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari on March 28, 1994. Williams v. Alabama, 511 U.S. 1012, 114 S.Ct. 1387, 128 L.Ed.2d 61 (1994).
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