Willie v. State

• Citation: 81 So.3d 1067
• Decision Date: 01 March 2012
• Docket Number: No. 2009–DR–01565–SCT.,2009–DR–01565–SCT.
• Parties: William Matthew WILSON a/k/a Willie v. STATE of Mississippi.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

81 So.3d 1067

William Matthew WILSON a/k/a Willie
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2009–DR–01565–SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

March 1, 2012.

[81 So.3d 1069]

Office of Capital Post–Conviction Counsel by Amy Strickland, Glenn S. Swartzfager, attorneys for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Lisa Louise Colonias, Marvin L. White, Jr., attorneys for appellee.

EN BANC.

CARLSON, Presiding Justice, for the Court:

¶ 1. William Matthew Wilson was indicted, in a multiple-count indictment, for capital murder with the underlying felony of child abuse and for a separate count of felonious child abuse. Wilson pleaded guilty to capital murder and to the separate child-abuse count.¹ He purportedly waived a sentencing hearing before a jury. He was sentenced to death for capital murder and to twenty years for felonious child abuse. We affirmed Wilson's death sentence.

[81 So.3d 1070]

Wilson v. State, 21 So.3d 572 (Miss.2009), cert. denied, Wilson v. Mississippi, ––– U.S. ––––, 130 S.Ct. 3282, 176 L.Ed.2d 1191 (2010). The mandate issued from this Court on December 10, 2009. Wilson timely filed his motion seeking post-conviction collateral relief. The Attorney General has filed a response, and Wilson has filed a reply to that response. Upon review of the claims raised, we find that Wilson has established that he is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on certain grounds; therefore, his PCR motion is granted in part and denied in part.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. The following statement of facts is taken from this Court's opinion in Wilson v. State:

On April 29, 2005, two-year-old Malorie Conlee was airlifted from her home and transported to North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, where she subsequently was pronounced dead due to a closed head injury. Malorie had been living in a mobile home in the Mooreville area with her mother, Augustina Conlee [F N1] and her mother's boyfriend, William Matthew Wilson. At the hospital, Wilson first told law enforcement officials that Malorie had sustained the head injury when his motorcycle fell on her. The examining physician at North Mississippi Medical Center determined that the injuries were more consistent with child abuse.

[F N1] Augustina Conlee also is referred to in the record as Augustina Conner.

Wilson subsequently gave the following account of Malorie's symptoms and behavior to law enforcement officials. Wilson stated that on the previous day, Malorie had been making irregular, convulsive movements and had exhibited a soft spot on her head that he described as “mushy.” He also stated that only one of Malorie's eyes would dilate when exposed to a flashlight. Wilson admitted that he and Augustina had failed to seek medical attention for Malorie due to his fear that bruising he had inflicted on Malorie's cheeks would be discovered.² He further stated that Malorie had been vomiting that evening. When asked about the burns on Malorie's feet,³ Wilson stated that these burns had been sustained previously when Malorie had been left unattended in the bathtub. Wilson gave essentially this same account to law enforcement officials when interviewed again at the Lee County Sheriff's Office. Later, in yet another interview, after being confronted with the fact that a search of the premises revealed that the motorcycle appeared to be basically untouched and covered in cobwebs, Wilson told law enforcement officials that Malorie's head injury had been sustained after he had dropped her on the kitchen floor. Prior to giving each of these statements, Wilson was given Miranda warnings. [F N2]

[F N2] Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).

In an interview with law enforcement officials, Conlee admitted that Wilson

[81 So.3d 1071]

had told her he had hit Malorie in the head and had choked her. In a subsequent interview, Wilson confessed that he had hit Malorie in the head with his fist three times. According to Wilson, Malorie was then put to bed on a pallet on the floor, where Wilson reported she had made irregular movements with her arms, and that she had cried and moaned. Wilson further stated that he had gone to sleep ⁴ and, upon waking in the early morning hours of April 29, 2005, he had discovered that Malorie was unresponsive and blue in color, and that he had finally called 911.

On July 19, 2005, Wilson was indicted by the Lee County Grand Jury for capital murder while engaged in the commission of felonious abuse of a child committed on or about April 29, 2005 (Count I) [F N3], and felonious child abuse of a child committed on or about January 19, 2005 (Count II). [F N4] Prior to the trial date, Wilson entered into a plea agreement with the prosecution whereby the State, in exchange for guilty pleas from Wilson on both counts in the indictment, would recommend a life sentence without parole as to Count I, in lieu of the death penalty, and a sentence of twenty years as to Count II, with the second sentence to run consecutively with the first sentence.

[F N3] Miss.Code Ann. § 97–3–19(2)(f) [Rev.2006].

[F N4] Miss.Code Ann. § 97–5–39(2)(a) [Rev.2006].

On March 5, 2007, the Circuit Court of Lee County, Judge Thomas J. Gardner, III presiding, conducted a plea hearing. During the plea colloquy, Wilson expressed dissatisfaction with his appointed counsel. As a result, the trial judge refused to accept his pleas of guilty, and Wilson was returned to the custody of the Lee County Sheriff.⁵

On May 24, 2007, Judge Gardner reconvened court to consider Wilson's renewed interest in entering guilty pleas on both counts in the indictment. The prosecution informed the trial court and Wilson (and Wilson's counsel) that the State had withdrawn its previous sentencing recommendation of life without parole plus twenty years, and that the State would once again seek the death penalty on the capital murder charge. During this second guilty plea colloquy, Wilson informed the trial court that he was satisfied with the performance of his appointed counsel. After the trial court conducted an extensive examination of Wilson regarding the voluntariness of his guilty pleas, the pleas were accepted on both counts of the indictment, and a sentencing hearing was scheduled for May 29, 2007. The sentencing phase was conducted without a jury as Wilson previously had waived his right to a jury, both orally and in writing. The prosecution and the defense presented witnesses and arguments to the court during the sentencing proceedings. At the conclusion of the sentencing hearing,

[81 So.3d 1072]

Judge Gardner entered a sentencing order on May 30, 2007.

The trial judge found beyond a reasonable doubt that, pursuant to Mississippi Code Section 99–19–101(7), Wilson killed Malorie Conlee, based on the fact that Wilson confessed to having done so and based upon the testimony of the pathologist, Dr. Hayne. Moreover, the trial judge found beyond a reasonable doubt that the following aggravating circumstances existed: (1) the killing of Malorie Conlee was committed while in the commission of felonious child abuse; (2) the capital offense was especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel due to the child's age, small stature, inability to defend herself, nature of the injuries inflicted by Wilson, and the amount of time in which Malorie suffered due to the failure of Wilson and Malorie's mother to seek medical treatment for her. See Miss.Code Ann. §§ 99–19–101(5)(d), 99–19–101(5)(h) (Rev.2007). The trial judge found the following mitigating factors: (1) the defendant had no significant criminal history, and (2) the defendant was twenty-four years old at the time of the occurrence. See Miss.Code Ann. §§ 99–19–101(6)(a), 99–19–101(6)(g) (Rev.2007). The trial court found that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances; thus, the trial court imposed a sentence of death for the capital murder conviction. On June 7, 2007, Wilson filed a post-trial “Motion for Judgment of Acquittal JNOV as to Sentence or in the Alternative for a New Penalty Phase Trial.” The trial court denied Wilson's motion on June 18, 2007.

Wilson, 21 So.3d at 574–76.

¶ 3. The record and exhibits to the motion further reveal that during Wilson's arraignment on September 7, 2005, Wilson stated that he believed that his family had hired Robert Sneed Laher to represent him, but Laher did not appear at the hearing. The prosecutor stated that he spoke with Laher earlier that morning and Laher informed him that he had been hired to handle certain preliminary matters only. Wilson stated “I thought he was supposed to have been my attorney.... To my understanding from my family, he was going to be my attorney. They have been meeting with him every week.” At that point, the court appointed William C. (Will) Bristow to be Wilson's attorney. At the conclusion of the arraignment, the court allowed Bristow to interview Wilson. This interview lasted approximately half an hour.

¶ 4. On December 2, 2005, Bristow filed a motion seeking the appointment of additional counsel. By order entered on December 19, 2005, Laher was appointed as additional counsel to represent Wilson. Although Bristow was lead counsel, the few pleadings filed in the record over the next seven months were filed by Laher. During a hearing to consider several motions on July 13, 2006, Laher was removed as counsel on the court's own motion. The Court stated that Laher would not be paid by the county. From the transcript, it is clear that the court was dissatisfied with Laher. Bristow attended the hearing and acted as if he were substituting for Laher instead of serving as Wilson's lead counsel. The Court stated that it would appoint additional counsel to assist Bristow. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court and counsel discussed the fact that all of the motions were not resolved and that the case was set for trial on August 21, 2006, which was a little more than a month away. The court stated that it would not continue the case and Bristow...