Woods v. Linahan

• Decision Date: 22 June 1981
• Docket Number: No. 79-2768,79-2768
• Citation: 648 F.2d 973
• Parties: Dessie X. WOODS, Petitioner, v. Leland LINAHAN, Warden of the Georgia Rehabilitation Center For Women, Respondent. . Unit B
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 973

648 F.2d 973

Dessie X. WOODS, Petitioner, v. Leland LINAHAN, Warden of the Georgia Rehabilitation Center For Women, Respondent.

No. 79-2768.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Unit B

June 22, 1981.

Dennis Cunningham, Chicago, Ill., for petitioner-appellant.

Robert S. Stubbs, II, Executive Asst. Atty. Gen., Nicholas G. Dumich, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., John C. Walden, Senior Asst. Atty. Gen., Don A. Langham, 1st Asst. Atty. Gen., Atlanta, Ga., for respondent-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.

Before TJOFLAT, HATCHETT and THOMAS A. CLARK, Circuit Judges.

HATCHETT, Circuit Judge:

In this habeas corpus appeal, Dessie X. Woods, the petitioner, challenges her conviction for armed robbery and voluntary manslaughter in Georgia state courts. Her challenges are on the following grounds: (1) she was denied due process of law and fundamental fairness by the participation in the trial of a private attorney retained and paid by the family and friends of the victim; (2) the evidence is insufficient to support her manslaughter conviction; and (3) the evidence is insufficient to support her armed robbery conviction. We hold that Woods's rights were not violated by the private attorney's participation, the evidence is sufficient to sustain the manslaughter conviction, but the evidence is insufficient to support the armed robbery conviction. We therefore affirm Woods's conviction for manslaughter and reverse her conviction for armed robbery.

FACTS

Woods and her co-defendant, Cheryl Todd, resided in Atlanta, Georgia. Todd persuaded Woods to accompany her in Reidsville, Georgia, to visit Todd's brother who resided in Reidsville. They decided to hitchhike to Reidsville. The trip to and return from Reidsville occurred without incident. Later Todd decided to visit her brother again. Again Woods and Todd decided to hitchhike. Their trip to Reidsville occurred without incident. Upon arriving in Reidsville, Todd became ill and eventually fainted beside the road. Woods sought to comfort Todd by sitting down on the side of the roadway and placing Todd's head in her lap. Believing the women were intoxicated, local police officers approached the women and told them if they did not "move along" they would be arrested and incarcerated. After verbal and physical exchanges, Woods and Todd were arrested and taken to jail. Upon their release three days later, Woods and Todd decided to hitchhike back to Atlanta. Together, they had $20 in currency.

Ronnie Horne, the victim, picked them up in Lyons, Georgia. Todd testified that when Horne drove his car near them, she observed a two-way radio in his car. She believed, based upon the presence of the radio, that Horne was a police officer. Fearing that they would be arrested for hitchhiking, Todd requested Horne to take them to the local bus station so they could catch a bus to Atlanta. After the two women were in Horne's car, he told them that he would take them to Atlanta. He said he had alcoholic beverages under his seat and that they could "party" en route to Atlanta.

Horne drove towards Frank's Kountry Kitchen located on Highway 280 in Wheeler County, Georgia. En route, Horne contacted Royce Yawn, a fellow insurance colleague, by radio. He told Yawn to meet him at Frank's Kountry Kitchen because he wanted to give Yawn some insurance forms and "that he had something he wanted to show him." Horne and the two women arrived at Frank's Kountry Kitchen shortly after Yawn arrived. While Horne and Yawn sorted the insurance forms, Woods and Todd went into the restaurant. After Todd placed her order, the two women went into the restroom to finish a bottle of wine which they had in their possession. Because Horne wanted another drink, Yawn went into the restaurant to purchase a coke and cigarettes. According to the facts as found by the Supreme Court of Georgia, "Yawn was visibly under the influence of alcohol when he entered the restaurant and he and Horne had been drinking during the day." Woods v. State, 240 Ga. 265, 239 S.E.2d 786, 788 (1978).

After leaving the restaurant, Todd attempted to get into Yawn's car. Horne, however, directed Todd to get into his car if she wanted a ride to Atlanta. Todd thereafter got into Horne's car and sat between Horne and Woods in the front seat.

Todd testified that after they left Frank's Kountry Kitchen, Horne became verbally abusive and suggested that they go into the woods to "party" and engage in sexual acts. Immediately after Horne stated he wanted to go into the woods to engage in sexual acts, Todd testified that she felt a gun and holster resting on the seat between herself and Horne. She became hysterical and demanded that Horne stop the car and let them out. After speeding up for a short time, Horne "reluctantly" stopped the car and let them out. The two women began walking back to Frank's Kountry Kitchen. They met Yawn who was travelling in his car in the same direction as Horne. Woods and Todd explained to Yawn that Horne had taken a road leading away from Atlanta, that he had become abusive, and that Horne wanted to take them into the woods to party and engage in sexual acts. Todd also told Yawn that she had felt a gun on the front seat of Horne's car. Yawn took the women back to Frank's Kountry Kitchen. Again, they decided to hitchhike to Atlanta. After walking a short distance, the women came upon Horne again. Horne apologized for his behavior and stated that although he could not take them to Atlanta he would take them as far as he was going. He added that the two women should get into his car because police officers were searching for them. The two women got into Horne's car. This time, Woods sat next to Horne and Todd sat near the right door in the front seat. Todd testified that because of Horne's prior conduct she was afraid of him even though he had apologized and promised that he would not harm them. Shortly after the women entered Horne's car, however, Horne again became abusive and stated that he wanted to take them into the woods to party and engage in sexual acts. Todd testified that she became hysterical.

Upon reaching an unmarked, paved, county road, a shortcut to I-16, Horne pulled his car halfway off the road and demanded that the two women get out. Todd testified that she immediately got out of the car and ran into the woods. In a tape introduced by the state, Woods stated that Horne reached for his gun on the seat beside him. Woods stated that she wrestled the gun away from Horne, "shot him with his gun stopped the car and cut the car off." According to her taped statement, she thereafter got out of the car on the passenger side, ran around the car, opened Horne's door, reached into his pocket and obtained his wallet which contained approximately $120.

Todd testified that when she heard the shots, she thought Horne had killed Woods. Woods, however, called out to Todd immediately after the shots were fired and told Todd that she had shot Horne and that he was dead. Todd said she ran back near Horne's car. Upon arriving at the car, Woods told Todd to put Horne's money into her pocket for safekeeping. Todd testified that she knew it was Horne's money because Woods said, "we need the money to get back to Atlanta."

The two women then ran down an unidentified road and hitchhiked a ride with five young men. Russell Williams, one of the young men in the car, testified that Woods told them she had killed Horne because he tried to rape her and Todd. She also told them she had taken his money.

The state indicted Woods for murder and armed robbery. After the return of the indictment, family and friends of the victim contributed money to hire a private attorney to assist the district attorney in prosecuting Woods and Todd. The private attorney assisted and sometimes directed the prosecution's effort in prosecuting Woods. A jury returned a verdict of guilty of manslaughter and armed robbery. On direct appeal, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Woods's convictions. The federal district court denied Woods habeas corpus relief. Woods appeals to this court.

ISSUES

We must determine whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain Woods's convictions for voluntary manslaughter and armed robbery and whether the role of the private attorney was within constitutional bounds.

I.

Woods first argues that the State's use of a private attorney to assist in her prosecution denies her due process of law and fundamental fairness. ¹ With regard to this argument, the following facts are relevant.

Either before Woods was indicted or immediately thereafter, the Sheriff of Wheeler County, Georgia, told F.M. Burch, a criminal investigator for the City of Dublin, Georgia, and good friend of the victim, that district attorney Mullis was inundated with cases and would probably need assistance in prosecuting the Woods case. The Sheriff therefore asked Burch to ask the family and friends of the victim whether they would hire a private attorney to assist Mullis in prosecuting Woods. Burch, thereafter, approached friends and family members of the victim and asked whether they would contribute money to hire a private attorney to assist Mullis in prosecuting Woods. After communicating with these people and securing their approval, Burch met with a private attorney and requested the attorney's participation in the case. The attorney agreed. He stated that he would participate in the trial for a fee of $1500, or $2000 if the trial was extended for some reason. The group paid the private attorney a deposit of $800 and agreed to pay the remaining monies when they raised it.

In a pretrial hearing the defense moved the state trial court to disqualify the private attorney. The private attorney testified that after being hired, he informed district attorney Mullis that he had been retained by family and friends of the victim to assist in the prosecution. He then asked Mullis "what he thought...