Wilson v. State

• Decision Date: 17 November 2020
• Docket Number: Supreme Court Case No. 19S-PC-548
• Parties: Donnell Dontrell WILSON, Appellant (Petitioner Below) v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Respondent Below)
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

157 N.E.3d 1163

Donnell Dontrell WILSON, Appellant (Petitioner Below)

v.STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Respondent Below)

Supreme Court Case No. 19S-PC-548

Supreme Court of Indiana.

Argued: November 26, 2019

Filed November 17, 2020

Rehearing Denied January 22, 2021

On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 18A-PC-3041

Massa, Justice.

Donnell Wilson was sentenced to 181 years for the murders of Charles Wood and Shaqwone Ham; the lengthy term of years also included a sentence for robbery and a criminal gang enhancement. Wilson, who was sixteen when he committed the crimes, now challenges his sentence on post-conviction review after his conviction was affirmed on direct appeal.

On post-conviction review, Wilson argues his sentence constitutes a de facto juvenile life sentence that triggers additional constitutional sentencing considerations under Miller v. Alabama , 567 U.S. 460, 132 S.Ct. 2455, 183 L.Ed.2d 407 (2012). He also alleges that both his trial counsel and appellate counsel were ineffective.

After a thorough review of U.S. Supreme Court precedent on juvenile sentencing, we reject Wilson's contention that his sentencing falls under Miller. We conclude, however, that his appellate counsel was ineffective on direct appeal when counsel failed to bring an Appellate Rule 7(B) challenge to the appropriateness of Wilson's sentence. Conducting this review now, we reduce Wilson's aggregate sentence to 100 years.

Facts and Procedural History.

In March 2013, sixteen-year-old Donnell Wilson, his then-girlfriend, her brother Jonte Crawford, and another of the Crawfords' relatives were all walking home from playing basketball in their hometown of Gary, Indiana. When the group encountered fifteen-year-old Derrick Thompson, Wilson and Jonte flashed the handguns they were carrying and began harassing and intimidating Thompson, making references to the local Tre 7 gang. The pair then took Thompson's smartphone and headphones and walked away.

A short time later, the group happened upon brothers Shaqwone Ham and Charles Wood. Wilson and Jonte were members of several interrelated gangs, including the Get Fresh Boys, Tre 7, and Glen Park Affiliated, which were all at odds with the Bottom Side gang, to which Ham and Wood belonged. Wilson had previously argued in person with the brothers and their disputes had continued online with the brothers threatening to fight Wilson. The groups initially exchanged greetings, but Wilson and Jonte soon began to argue with the brothers. Wilson exclaimed, "Oh, y'all looking for me? I'm in your hood." DA Tr. Vol. 1, p.153.¹ Seconds later, he fatally shot Wood in the head. When Ham tried to run, Jonte shot him several times, killing him too. It is unclear from the record if Wilson also shot at Ham. The brothers were unarmed.

Three hours before the murders, Wilson—who had previously made several gang-related posts on Twitter—sent out a new tweet declaring "Glen Park or get shot," referring to the Gary neighborhood where he lived. DA Ex. Vol. 1, p.43. An hour after the murder, he tweeted "Chillen wit my bros #[GetFreshBoys]." Id. , p.42. Jonte and Wilson were quickly arrested, and police found Thompson's possessions on Jonte. Wilson was charged with two counts of murder, Class B felony armed robbery, and a Class D felony conspiracy to commit criminal gang activity.² The State also sought a criminal gang enhancement.³

While Wilson was lodged in the Lake County Jail awaiting trial, he told his cellmate he killed Ham and Wood because they were affiliated with the rival Bottom Side gang. He also explained how his gang affiliation had led to Twitter disputes with members of the Bottom Side gang. Wilson, along with some fellow inmates, later jumped this cellmate because he was from the "other side of the bridge" dividing Gary. DA Tr. Vol. 2, p.410. During this period, Wilson was also recorded on a jailhouse video conference stating he wanted to "smash" a member of a rival gang incarcerated in the same facility and indicated a desire to continue participating in gang activity. DA Tr. Vol. 4, p.745.

After a four-day trial beginning in June 2014, a jury found Wilson guilty on all counts. The trial court sentenced Wilson to a term of sixty years for the first murder conviction, fifty-five consecutive years for the second murder conviction, six consecutive years for armed robbery, and two years for criminal gang activity, with an additional sixty consecutive years added under the criminal gang enhancement, for an aggregate sentence of 183 years. Wilson's trial counsel did not retain any experts in preparation for the sentencing hearing and did not present any witnesses at sentencing. When handing down the sentence, the court cited several aggravating factors, but found Wilson's youth to be a mitigating factor.

In a separate proceeding, Jonte was initially charged identically to Wilson, but he later pled guilty to a single count of murder and robbery as part of a plea agreement. Jonte's plea deal capped his maximum possible sentence at sixty-five years, and he was ultimately sentenced to sixty-one years of incarceration.

On direct appeal, Wilson challenged his convictions on three grounds, contending that (1) the trial court erred by admitting Twitter messages into evidence without foundation, (2) his conviction for conspiracy to commit criminal gang activity should be vacated because it was duplicative of the gang enhancement, and (3) the trial court erred when it excluded Wilson from a portion of his trial after a violent outburst. The Court of Appeals found in favor of Wilson on the criminal-gang-activity issue and vacated the conviction, thereby reducing his sentence by two years. See Wilson v. State , 30 N.E.3d 1264, 1269 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015), trans. denied. Wilson's other arguments were rejected, id. at 1268–71, and we denied transfer.

Wilson then sought post-conviction relief arguing that—since he was a juvenile—the criminal gang enhancement was unconstitutional as applied to him under both the U.S. and Indiana constitutions. Second, Wilson argued that both his trial counsel and appellate counsel were ineffective. Specifically, Wilson argued that (1) both his trial counsel and appellate counsel should have challenged his 181-year aggregate sentence as a violation of the Eighth Amendment, (2) that trial counsel did not present adequate mitigation evidence at sentencing or properly investigate his background, and (3) appellate counsel was ineffective for not raising an Appellate Rule 7(B) appropriateness challenge to his sentence.

When the post-conviction court held an evidentiary hearing in March 2018, both Wilson's trial and appellate counsel testified. Trial counsel testified that he met with Wilson five to eight times in jail and that Wilson had rejected a 100-year plea agreement. To prepare for the sentencing hearing, trial counsel talked to Wilson and his family to investigate his background and learn of any mitigating evidence. He also reviewed the pre-sentencing report with his client, which indicated Wilson was not taking any medication and had no history of mental health issues. Based on his review of the records and these conversations, trial counsel concluded there was no need to hire a mental health expert. Further, since Wilson was not facing a life without parole sentence, counsel testified that the U.S. Supreme Court's Miller v. Alabama decision—holding that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juvenile offenders are unconstitutional— "wasn't even on my radar." PCR Tr., p.15.

Wilson's appellate counsel testified that he was unfamiliar with Miller at the time of the direct appeal. Instead, appellate counsel homed in on the clear error in the duplicity of the gang activity conviction. But in retrospect, he conceded that he should have also challenged the sentence's appropriateness under Appellate Rule 7(B). Appellate counsel also admitted that, at the time, he was unfamiliar with two recent Appellate Rule 7(B) decisions issued by this Court, both addressing the appropriateness of de facto life sentences for juvenile double murderers.

At the post-conviction review hearing, new evidence about Wilson's background was introduced. Dr. Charles Ewing, a forensic psychologist who examined Wilson while in prison, concluded that he was suffering from PTSD linked to growing up in a violent neighborhood where someone once attempted to firebomb his childhood home and where he witnessed the shooting of two friends. Dr. Ewing concluded that Wilson's decision to shoot the victims was based in fear stemming from previous traumatic experiences and that he did not appreciate the consequences of his actions. He also testified that Wilson likely had a good chance of being rehabilitated after he reached age twenty-five. But Dr. Ewing conceded that Wilson had never previously been formally diagnosed with a mental health issue and a mental health professional only saw Wilson once. The testimony of developmental psychologist Dr. James Garbarino provided a similar positive outlook on Wilson's chances for rehabilitation.

The post-conviction court, however, denied Wilson's petition for relief. The Court of Appeals reversed, finding that Wilson's trial counsel was ineffective when he failed "to present any evidence related to youth and its attendant characteristics or to Wilson's own youth, environment, mental health, good character, or prospects of rehabilitation," as it found was required by U.S. Supreme Court precedent for de facto juvenile life sentences. Wilson v. State , 128 N.E.3d 492, 502 (Ind. Ct. App. 2019), vacated . Ordering a new sentencing hearing, the Court of Appeals declined to address Wilson's other arguments. Id. at 503.

The State sought transfer, which we granted.

Standard of Review.

A post-conviction proceeding is a civil proceeding in which a defendant may present limited collateral challenges to a conviction and sentence. Ind. Post-Conviction Rule 1(1)(b) ; Gibson v. State , 133 N.E.3d...