Williams v. Allen

• Decision Date: 04 March 2010
• Docket Number: No. 08-11905.,08-11905.
• Citation: 598 F.3d 778
• Parties: Jason O. WILLIAMS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Richard F. ALLEN, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

598 F.3d 778

Jason O. WILLIAMS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Richard F. ALLEN, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 08-11905.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

Date : March 4, 2010

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David C. Scott, Barry S. Alberts, Catherine M. Masters, John C. Martin, Neil Lloyd (all Court-Appointed), Schiff Hardin, LLP, Chicago, IL, for Petitioner-Appellant.

Beth Jackson Hughes, Montgomery AL, for Respondent-Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.

Before TJOFLAT, BLACK and WILSON, Circuit Judges.

WILSON, Circuit Judge:

Jason Oric Williams, an Alabama death row inmate, appeals from the district court's denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus ("petition"), filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The district court granted a certificate of appealability ("COA") on the sole issue of whether Williams' counsel rendered ineffective assistance by: (1) presenting an invalid defense under Alabama law; (2) failing to sufficiently argue a voluntary intoxication defense to negate intent to murder; and (3) failing to object to jury instructions. After review of the record and with the benefit of oral argument, we affirm the district court's denial of Williams' petition.

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Crimes

Williams was adopted by his aunt and uncle at infancy. His aunt and uncle didnot disclose to Williams that they were not his biological parents. Williams grew up in poverty, performed poorly academically and felt he was snubbed by his family and peers. When Williams turned seventeen years old, he attempted to obtain identification documents so that he could work. During this process, Williams learned that he was adopted. This news devastated Williams, and he began experimenting with alcohol and drugs such as LSD, crack marijuana, ecstacy, and prescription medications.

In 1990, Williams married Sandra Ellzey. Williams and Ellzey remained married for about ten months, divorcing in 1991. On a few occasions, Williams slapped Ellzey in the face, pulled her hair and broke her glasses. Williams, however continued to live with Ellzey after they were divorced. In January 1992, Ellzey discovered needles for drug use in her home, and learned that Williams had been taking her tranquilizers. Ellzey then asked Williams to leave.

When Ellzey forced Williams to move out, Gerald and Clara ("Clair") Paravicini who had known Williams for about eight years, allowed Williams to move into their home with them and Clair's minor son, Jeffery Carr. Williams resided in the Paravicini home for approximately two weeks.

Shortly after moving in with the Paravicinis, Ellzey and Williams agreed to reunite and move in together. On February 14, 1992, they arranged a date. The couple went to a club and had a few drinks. Afterwards, they bought sandwiches at a deli. By 11:00 p.m., Ellzey was ready to return home. However, Williams was not, and he asked Ellzey to drop him off at another club. Ellzey advised Williams to call her when he was ready to leave the club so that she could give him a ride home. At the club, Williams purchased LSD, and prescription drugs, and he drank a large amount of liquor.¹ The record is clear that Williams ingested drugs and alcohol throughout the night. Rather than call Ellzey to pick him up as they had agreed, Williams met with some friends, and they drove to a drug-house to smoke crack cocaine together all night. Early the next morning, Williams' friend dropped him off at a corner store. Williams then walked about a half-mile back to the Paravicinis' trailer home.

On February 15, at approximately 6:00 a.m., Williams arrived at the Paravicinis' home, and he knocked, either on Jeffery's window or on the side of the trailer that corresponded with Jeffery's room. Jeffery let him in and asked him about his plans for the day. Williams told Jeffery that he had a "side job" to do. Jeffery thought that Williams seemed normal and did not appear to be drunk because he was neither tilting his head nor slurring his speech. Williams then called Ellzey on a cordless telephone. Ellzey was upset with Williams because she had wanted him to return to her house and because they had planned for her to come and pick him up from the bar. Ellzey, who had observed Williams inebriated many times in the past, did not believe that Williams was intoxicated.

Jeffery watched Williams pacing while he talked to Ellzey. While still on the phone with Ellzey, Williams walked into the Paravicinis' bedroom, where Clair was in bed, and retrieved a.22-caliber auto-matic rifle. While still on the phone with Ellzey, Williams shot Jeffery in the face and in the hand. When Gerald came to Jeffery's aid, Williams shot Gerald in the base of the left neck and in the upper left chest area. Jeffery ran to a neighbor's house to get help. Gerald also ran out of the home.

Clair came out of the bedroom when she heard the second gunshot. She saw Jeffery running away and Gerald in the yard. Her husband told her to get help. Clair ran to George Evans' house next door. She then ran back to her husband, who fell by the road.

Evans followed Clair, holding a shotgun. He looked to his right and saw Williams standing in the doorway of the trailer, with no more than 100 feet of open ground between them, with the rifle in his hand. Evans brought up his shotgun and aimed at Williams, warning Williams not to shoot. Williams ducked back into the trailer, and Evans ran back to his trailer. Meanwhile, Ellzey remained on the telephone. She heard two cracking, popping noises. When Williams picked the phone back up again, she started to say his name. Williams dropped the phone without saying anything.

Clair found that she could not get Gerald to stand. She went back into the trailer to find something to stop Gerald's bleeding and for her car keys. There, she found Williams, who waived the rifle at her and told her to get back and leave him alone, or else he intended to kill her. Clair replied that Gerald was hurt. She asked Williams to please help her with him. Williams then struck her in the face with the rifle, breaking her jaw. He left with the rifle and her purse, which contained her credit cards, a checkbook, and over-$500 cash.

Meanwhile, Buford Billedeaua was driving a truck past the Paravicinis' trailer.

He saw Jeffery and Gerald run out of the trailer. He then saw Williams follow them, holding a large black purse. When Williams took a shot at Gerald, Billedeaua stopped his truck. Williams then approached Billedeaua, telling him that he needed the truck because he had an emergency. Billedeaua noted that Williams looked as though he had been taking dope. Billedeaua got out of the truck with his keys and began to run into the woods. Williams then began shooting at Billedeaua, who avoided being shot.

Unable to flee in Billedeaua's truck without the keys, Williams turned and walked 100 yards up the road to the home of Linda and Freddie Barber. Williams was barely acquainted with the Barbers, having only played basketball with their sons, Brad and Bryan, at their-church on a couple of occasions. Williams attempted to enter the Barbers' home. Linda answered the front door. Williams inflicted gunshot wounds to her head. Williams then went into the kitchen and also shot Freddie in the head. Next, Williams shot their son, Bryan, who was asleep in his bed. It w^ras later-discovered that Bryan had multiple gunshot wounds, at least two of which were found in his head. Each victim was shot at close range.

Brad was asleep in the back bedroom. He awoke to the sound of gunshots and screaming. Brad got up and opened his door. Williams then proceeded down the hall to Brad's room. Brad closed and locked his door, but Williams kicked it in. When Brad grabbed the barrel of the gun, Williams shot him in the left hand. The two struggled, but Brad managed to escape through the backdoor, and ran through the woods to his sister's house.

Williams took the Barbers' keys and took their* van. On the after-noon of February 16, he reached the Mississippi-Loui-siana border and called Ellzey, who advised him to surrender. When Williams was apprehended, he told the law enforcement officers that he had thrown the rifle off an unknown bridge into the water. He had also disposed of Freddie Barber's wallet, after taking all the money it contained. Williams spent the money he stole from the Barbers and Clair Paravicini on crack cocaine after leaving the crime scene.

R. The Trial and Expert Testimony

On April 12, 1992, Williams was indicted on two counts of capital murder.² During the trial on November 10, 1992, Williams testified that he did not remember all the events of February 14 and 15, 1992. Williams testified that he had a few beers with Ellzey, and then drank a "pretty good bit" of beer after she dropped him off at another club. At the club, he purchased three hits of LSD for seven dollars ($7) each from someone he did not know and remembered taking two of them. Williams testified that he did not remember killing anyone. He only recalls that he went into the bathroom, and that he began to feel very scared. He said that he saw the walls move, and he saw a larger-thanlife apparition walking towards him that made him fear for his life. Regarding the day of the killings, Williams further testified that he began flipping out even before he called Ellzey, and that he tried to disguise his drug use from her to keep her from getting angry with him. He testified that he did not remember anything that occurred between the time that he dialed her number and when he found himself driving a van in Mississippi a day later. However, Williams did not mention seeing the apparition to the Mississippi or Alabama law enforcement officers with whom he spoke on February 16. Williams did tell the officers that he did not remember killing anyone the night before. Williams...