Wood v. Quarterman

• Decision Date: 21 August 2008
• Docket Number: Civil No. SA-01-CA-423-OG.
• Citation: 572 F.Supp.2d 814
• Parties: Jeffery Lee WOOD, TDCJ No. 999256, Petitioner, v. Nathaniel QUARTERMAN, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Criminal Institutions Division, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Texas

572 F.Supp.2d 814

Jeffery Lee WOOD, TDCJ No. 999256, Petitioner, v. Nathaniel QUARTERMAN, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Criminal Institutions Division, Respondent.

Civil No. SA-01-CA-423-OG.

United States District Court, W.D. Texas, San Antonio Division.

August 21, 2008.

J. Scott Sullivan, Law Offices of J. Scott Sullivan, San Antonio, TX, Jared Tyler, Texas Defender Service, Houston, TX, for Petitioner.

Tomee Morgan Heining, Office of the Attorney General Capitol Station, Austin, TX, for Respondent.

ORDER GRANTING STAY OF EXECUTION

ORLANDO L. GARCIA, District Judge.

The matters before the Court are (1) petitioner's motion for appointment of counsel, docket entry no. 35, (2) petitioner's motion for leave to file ex parte request for expert assistance, docket entry no. 36, (3) petitioner's motion for stay of execution, docket entry no. 37, (4) petitioner's sealed ex parte motion for funding to obtain expert mental health assistance, docket entry no. 39, (5) respondent's opposition to stay of execution, docket entry no. 40, (6) respondent's opposition to motion for leave to file ex parte request for expert assistance, docket entry no. 41, and (7) petitioner's reply to respondent's opposition, docket entry no. 42.

All but the last of petitioner's pleadings and motions listed above were filed electronically on August 19, 2008, less than 50 hours before petitioner's scheduled execution at 6 p.m. on August 21, 2008. Respondent filed both his pleadings electronically before noon on August 20, 2008. Petitioner's final pleading, docket entry no. 42, was filed August 20, 2008.

Background

The facts of petitioner's capital offense and subsequent trial, direct appeal, and state habeas corpus proceedings are set forth in detail in this Court's opinion denying petitioner federal habeas corpus relief. Wood v. Dretke, 386 F.Supp.2d 820, 825-35 (W.D.Tex.2005), CoA denied, 214 Fed. Appx. 473 (5th Cir.2007), affirmed, 491 F.3d 196 (5th Cir.2007), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 1087, 169 L.Ed.2d 825 (2008). It will suffice to note the evidence at petitioner's trial established petitioner participated in a pair of armed robberies of convenience stores which culminated in the fatal shooting of a store clerk by petitioner's accomplice Danny Reneau on January 22, 1996. Immediately following the fatal shooting, petitioner assisted Reneau in removing the store's safe, cash box, and videotape recorder. Petitioner also drove the get-away vehicle used in both robberies.

On or about August 14, 2008, far less than the 20 days prior to his scheduled execution required by applicable state law to obtain review by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals,¹ petitioner filed a motion in his state trial court requesting appointment of counsel and appointment of a mental health expert to assist petitioner in investigating, developing, and presenting evidence supporting a claim that petitioner is currently incompetent to be executed and, thereby, at least temporarily exempt from the death penalty pursuant to the Supreme Court's recent decision in Panetti v. Quarterman, ___ U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 2842, 168 L.Ed.2d 662 (2007), and its prior decision in Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399, 106 S.Ct. 2595, 91 L.Ed.2d 335 (1986).

On August 17, 2008, the state trial court denied petitioner's motion with the cryptic notation "Motion Denied. Threshold showing required under 46.05 not met." In a per curiam opinion issued August 19, 2008, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed petitioner's appeal from the trial court's denial of petitioner's motion, explaining it lacked both (1) appellate jurisdiction to review same due to the untimeliness of petitioner's motion and (2) direct authority under applicable state law to appoint counsel or experts to assist petitioner in his post-conviction proceeding. Wood v. State, AP-75,970, 2008 WL 3855534 (Tex. Crim.App. August 19, 2008).

Motion for Stay of Execution

In support of his motion for stay of execution, petitioner argues (1) his school records demonstrate he was diagnosed as exhibiting emotional difficulties as a child, (2) he was determined to be incompetent to stand trial in May, 1997 (but subsequently found competent only a few months later despite receiving no medical treatment or medication during the intervening period), (3) a diagnostician who examined petitioner in connection with petitioner's competency trials concluded petitioner suffered from delusional thought patterns which interfered with petitioner's ability to communicate effectively with his counsel, (4) a mental health evaluation conducted in connection with petitioner's original state habeas corpus proceeding shortly after petitioner's 1998 conviction, concluded, in part, "the client's understanding of the upcoming legal process is somewhat sophisticated. However, his ability to appreciate the consequences of those options or behave in a self-protective fashion is profoundly impaired and almost delusional", (5) various prison medical staff have noted instances of paranoid comments made by petitioner during his current incarceration, (6) petitioner has been treated for suicidal ideation and multiple suicide attempts during his current incarceration, and (7) petitioner has made numerous patently delusional comments to his federal habeas counsel, attorney Scott Sullivan, suggesting petitioner possesses a completely unrealistic view of the manner whereby petitioner might one day obtain relief from his death sentence and release from his current custody.

Respondent correctly points out, and petitioner candidly admits, the foregoing arguments do not, standing on their own, satisfy the standard for establishing petitioner is currently so mentally disabled as to be "incompetent to be executed." However, in Panetti, the Supreme Court emphasized the Constitution mandates not only a standard of mental competence for a convicted defendant which must be satisfied before an execution may proceed but also guarantees certain minimal due process protections when a defendant sentenced to death makes "a substantial showing of insanity." Panetti v. Quarterman, ___ U.S. at ___, 127 S.Ct. at 2856. The Supreme Court concluded Panetti had been deprived of the constitutional minimum due process requirements because the state habeas court had failed, among other things, to transcribe its proceedings, furnish Panetti with an evidentiary hearing, or provide Panetti an adequate opportunity to submit expert evidence in response to a report filed by court-appointed experts. Panetti, ___ U.S. at ___, 127 S.Ct. at 2856-57.

The initial constitutional deficiency with what transpired during petitioner's latest state habeas corpus proceeding is that petitioner was afforded neither court-appointed counsel nor expert assistance to challenge his own competence to be executed. Instead, the State of Texas insisted an arguably insane death row inmate proceeding without the assistance of court-appointed counsel was required to satisfy the threshold requirement of Article 46.05, i.e., make a "substantial showing of incompetency," before the inmate was entitled to either the assistance of counsel or the assistance of any mental health expert. With all due respect, a system which requires an insane person to first make "a substantial showing" of his own lack of mental capacity without the assistance of counsel or a mental health expert, in order to obtain such assistance is, by definition, an insane system. Panetti had the assistance of court-appointed counsel. Petitioner was deprived of even this much procedural protection. It is inconsistent with the mandates of both Panetti and Ford for the State of Texas to deny an indigent death row inmate asserting a claim that he is incompetent to be executed the assistance of counsel until said inmate first satisfies arcane pleadings requirements so intellectually challenging they test the skill of even the most seasoned attorney.

Furthermore, the Texas statutory definition of "incompetent to be executed" apparently applied by the state trial court during petitioner's most recent state habeas corpus proceeding suffers from the exact same constitutional defect identified by the Supreme Court when it struck down as too narrow two decades of Fifth Circuit precedent construing the Supreme Court's holding in Ford. Under applicable Texas law, a defendant is incompetent to be executed if he does not understand (1) he is to be executed and his execution is imminent and (2) the reason he is being executed. Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann., Article 46.05(h) (Vernon Supp. 2007). The Supreme Court's opinion in Panetti makes clear a standard for incompetence in this context which focuses exclusively upon the defendant's awareness of his situation but which ignores the possibility the defendant may suffer from delusional thought processes which interfere with his ability to rationally comprehend the causal link between his capital offense and his imminent execution is unconstitutionally narrow. See Panetti v. Quarterman, ___ U.S. at ___, 127 S.Ct. at 2861 ("The potential for a prisoner's recognition of the severity of the offense and the objective of community vindication are called in question, however, if the prisoner's mental state is so distorted by a mental illness that his awareness of the crime and punishment has little or no relation to the understanding of those concepts shared by the community as a whole."). "A prisoner's awareness of the State's rationale for an execution is not the same as a rational understanding of it." Panetti, ___ U.S. at ___, 127 S.Ct. at 2862. Petitioner's motion presents nonfrivolous arguments suggesting petitioner currently lacks a rational understanding of the connection between his role in his offense and the punishment imposed upon him.

Petitioner's motion for stay, particularly the sections outlining petitioner's allegedly delusional statements to mental health experts near the time of pe...