Duren v. State
Duren v. State
Opinion
The appellant, David Ray Duren, appeals the denial of his Rule 20, A.R.Crim.P.Temp., petition. In 1984, the appellant was sentenced to death for the 1983 robbery and murder of Kathy Bedsole. We remanded appellant's case for written findings of fact relating to the punishment phase of the trial. Duren v.State,
The evidence established at trial that on the night of October 20, 1983, the appellant robbed and killed Kathleen Bedsole. The appellant confessed twice to killing Miss Bedsole. The appellant and another individual approached Bedsole's car and told her and her companion to get in the trunk of the car. While the victim and Charles Leonard were in the trunk, the appellant and co-defendant drove to a fast food restaurant and robbed the employees of the restaurant. The appellant then drove the car to a deserted area, took the victim and Leonard out of the trunk and shot and killed Bedsole while she and Leonard were tied together. Four more shots were fired, three of which hit Charles Leonard. Prior to shooting Miss Bedsole, the appellant took two $20 bills from her purse. The appellant was tried and convicted of the murder of Bedsole, which was made capital by the fact that she was killed during a robbery.
Appellant raises many issues on appeal concerning the effectiveness of his trial counsel. The United States Supreme Court case of Strickland v. Washington,
Strickland v. Washington,"When a defendant challenges a death sentence such as the one at issue in this case, the question is whether there is a reasonable probability that, absent the errors, the sentencer — including an appellate court, to the extent it independently reweighs the evidence — would have concluded that the balance of aggravating and mitigating circumstances did not warrant death."
"When he made this argument, Appell knew that, due to the doctrine of transferred intent, this was not a legally valid defense. Appell presented this defense for several reasons. First, it had been raised by Duren in his confession. Second, after investigation, Appell knew that the prosecution's case was overwhelming and Duren's chances of acquittal or conviction of a lesser included offense were extremely small. Third, Appell knew that, even if this position was not a valid legal defense, a verdict based on this defense would still benefit Duren.
"Appell's decision was not unreasonable. The prosecution's case was overwhelming. Appell had rejected intoxication as a defense because he thought Duren's claim was not credible and that such a defense would only prejudice a jury against his client."
The appellant argues that his trial counsel violated Disciplinary Rule 7-102(A)(2), Code of Professional Responsibility of the Alabama State Bar, which states that "a lawyer shall not knowingly advance a claim or defense that is unwarranted under existing law, except that he may advance such claim or defense if it can be supported by good faith argument for an extension, modification, or reversal of existing law." However, a violation of the Disciplinary Rules does not automatically mean that the appellant lacked effective assistance of counsel.
As the Supreme Court stated in Strickland, the A.B.A. Rules are only "guides to determining what is reasonable. . . . No particular set of detailed rules for counsel's conduct can satisfactorily take account of the variety of circumstances faced by defense counsel or the range of legitimate decisions regarding how best to represent a criminal defendant."Strickland,
In the current case, appellant's trial counsel was faced with overwhelming evidence of the appellant's guilt. The appellant had twice confessed to killing the victim. There was also the eyewitness testimony of Charles Leonard, who identified Duren as the individual who shot and killed *Page 363 Miss Bedsole. The prosecution had a very strong case against the appellant. Thus, we cannot say that Appell's conduct was unreasonable under the circumstances of the instant case. Appell had been practicing law for approximately 10 years at the time of trial and about half of his practice at the time of this trial had been criminal work. He had also represented five defendants prior to the appellant who faced the death penalty. After taking all of the facts into consideration, we agree with and quote the trial judge in saying that "Appell's decision was not unreasonable."
Even if no substantial investigation had been made, we would still hold that counsel was not ineffective. The federal courts have adopted a three-pronged test to determine if "a decision to forgo a plausible line of defense without substantial investigation was reasonable under the circumstances."Gates v. Zant,
These factors give some guidance when evaluating Appell's decision not to raise intoxication as a defense. The initial inquiry takes into account the attorney's experience with criminal cases. "The more experienced an attorney is, the more likely it is that his decision to rely on his own experience and judgment in rejecting a defense without substantial investigation was reasonable under the circumstances."Gates v. Zant,
Second, the intoxication defense did not fit into Appell's overall defense strategy. Third, the jury could have been more prejudiced against the appellant if they chose to ignore his defense of intoxication. Furthermore, the testimony as to whether the appellant had been drinking is at the very least inconsistent. A defense witness testified at the Rule 20 hearing that the appellant was intoxicated on the night of the murder and also had taken LSD. During the trial, this witness stated that she had only seen the appellant several days prior to the murder. The trial court found this witness's testimony not to be credible. One witness did testify at the hearing that he was with the appellant on the night of the murder and that the appellant had been drinking and had smoked some marijuana. We also have the confession of the appellant, which shows that the crime was well thought out and required concentration. The appellant presented two experts, who based their testimony on information predominantly from the appellant and a prior DUI arrest, who stated that the appellant was intoxicated at the time of the murder and robbery. The state presented the testimony *Page 364 of the two arresting officers, who said that they observed no evidence that the appellant had been drinking prior to his arrest. Thus, evidence that the appellant was intoxicated was contradictory. Appell chose not to raise this as a defense. We cannot say that this was unreasonable or resulted in prejudice to the appellant.
Moreover, as the state points out, simple intoxication is not a defense to a crime. "The degree of intoxication necessary to negate specific intent and, thus, reduce the grade of an offense must amount to 'insanity.' " Maddox v. State,
The appellant also argues that his trial counsel was ineffective in failing to object to prosecutorial comments made in the closing argument. The prosecutor made the following comment during his closing arguments: "If he wanted to save her life . . . it would have been just temporarily, just temporarily to use her sexually." Appellant argues that his counsel should have objected to these comments because there was no evidence at trial to back up this contention.
We must evaluate the comments made by the prosecutor in the context of the whole trial. The appellant's entire line of defense was the contention that he did not intend to kill the girl but, instead, to kill the young man. "The relevant question is whether the prosecutor's comments 'so infected the trial with unfairness as to make the resulting conviction a denial of due process.' " Darden v. Wainwright,
" 'An accused is not entitled to error-free counsel.' "Stringfellow v. State,
Appellant also argues that his trial counsel was ineffective in failing to object to the following, which occurred in closing argument during the guilt phase:
"She cries out through her grave through me, through the D.A.'s office and says make me a plus statistic. Use my life for something, to save other lives. And if you will give the proper punishment on this occasion, it will save other lives.
"Picture, if you will, a chair, an empty chair around some dining room table that *Page 365 Christmas and the Christmas after. A lot of families and a lot of homes and it's empty, the place for a little daughter. And the family, somebody in the family, sister saying, Mama, I wish Kathy were here. Some of the family. And the mama having to say, that's all right, Sis. There was a jury back in Birmingham on March the 8th that gave their stamp of approval to this and we have to go by that. Otherwise, your sister would be here today.
A similar argument was also advanced in the punishment phase. The appellant argues that this was inadmissible, since comments concerning the impact of the crime on the family of the victim are not admissible. He bases this contention on Booth v.Maryland,
Furthermore, references to the impact of the crime on the family of the victim are not automatically viewed as prejudicial. See Byrne v. Butler,
"Q — I think I understand. And if you are wrong and Mr. Duren wasn't intoxicated on that night, then there was nothing particularly mitigating insofar as his mental condition, right?
"A — I would have to say that that was probably true."
From the testimony at the hearing, it appears that appellant's psychological claim is tied in with his substance abuse. "Failure to present psychiatric evidence in mitigation does not necessarily constitute ineffective assistance of counsel." Floyd v. State,
As the Supreme Court stated in Strickland v. Washington, supra, when evaluating a decision to not present a defense, an investigation must take place. "The scope of the duty, however, depends on such facts as the strength of the government's case and the likelihood that pursuing certain *Page 366
leads may prove more harmful than helpful." Strickland v.Washington,
Furthermore, the appellant has failed to show that he was prejudiced by the lack of psychological evidence regarding his substance abuse. There was overwhelming evidence of the appellant's guilt. We cannot say that this evidence would have affected the outcome of the trial. See Cochran v. State,
The appellant next argues that Appell's reference to his being "lost" and the phrase "had Duren been merciful, no trial would have been necessary" resulted in prejudice to him. When taken out of context these quotes seem offensive. We must evaluate these statements in the context of the entire closing argument. These statements were consistent with the defense that Appell presented. Appell put his client at the mercy of the jury. After an evaluation of counsel's closing argument and a review of the facts of the case, we cannot say that this conduct resulted in prejudice to the appellant. The trial court thoroughly instructed the jury that it should consider only evidence from the witness stand in reaching its verdict.
The comments of which appellant complains were made by his attorney in the following context:
"Mr. DeCarlo has said it and Mr. McDonald has said it, that David Duren showed absolutely no mercy to Kathy Bedsole or Chuck Leonard that night and there is no question about it because, if he had showed mercy, if he had been a merciful person, we wouldn't even be here today. We wouldn't be here. But is mercy only given to the merciful? Do you only show mercy to those who have been merciful?"
"I believe as most of you or — all of you said that you were members of different denominations. I believe that the ultimate mercy comes to us as you know through God. God teaches us about mercy.
"Now, Jesus has said he who's without sin cast the first stone. That's a Bible saying and I guess we have all heard it, but we all know what it means. It says we are all sinners and we have all done wrong in out lives. Jesus showed mercy, and we are asking you to show mercy not because he showed mercy to someone else. So that we, too, can move towards a merciful existence.
"You have the most awesome duty and power that any human beings can have because you as human beings now have the power of life and death. And I ask you to follow the tenets and the teachings of Jesus Christ and God when he says be merciful. That's not an easy thing to do because we are human beings and our emotions as Mr. DeCarlo stated and Rusty will get up there and state to you is to kill, to revenge. Revenge is so *Page 367 easy. And it's so easy to be a revengeful [sic] person.
". . . .
"David is looking at spending forty-four years, a minimum of probably forty-four years if he lives to sixty-five in the penitentiary. That's five hundred and twenty-eight months. That's sixteen thousand and sixty days in jail. The only relief that he can look forward to is death of old age or whatever. That's day after day after day after day locked up, no relief in sight, no sunny afternoon in the park, no family, no friends in life and a living hell, and he deserves it. He deserves it. He took another human being's life intentionally. We have all found that to be true. He already confessed to that.
"But to electrocute him would not solve any problems and not end the killings. And I have asked — I asked you at the beginning and I'm going ask you again for mercy, to be Godlike, to show David something that he did not show Kathy Bedsole, to show the world that we are not going to kill for killing's sake because it solves no problems and it does not answer, gives no answer.
". . . .
"I mean, I can't argue with Rusty about the fact that this was a horrible crime. I can't argue with him about that. I can't argue with him because it is true. It's correct. It was a horrible crime. It was a miserable crime. A sixteen year old girl has no reason to die like this or any reason. But yelling and screaming and jumping up and down and saying that revenge is sweet and let's do it doesn't bring Kathy back. It's not going to stop anything."
When viewed in context, these statements show the eloquent argument of appellant's counsel to show mercy. We do not evaluate a trial lawyer's performance using hindsight. SeeStrickland v. Washington, supra. An appellant is entitled to " 'not errorless counsel, and not counsel judged ineffective by hindsight, but counsel reasonably likely to render and rendering reasonably effective assistance.' " Haggard v.Alabama,
Appellant also argues that the trial court erred in excluding the testimony of experts about the opinions of other experts. We have recently reversed a case on this very issue. An expert can not testify by relying on the opinions of other experts. See Bailey v. State,
*Page 368"Whatever decision you will make will be advisory only. Having returned a verdict of guilty of the capital offense, the only punishment for a capital offense in the state of Alabama is by death by electrocution or life imprisonment without parole. Any verdict that you would arrive at as to the punishment in this sentence hearing is advisory only, and I will read to you in a few moments the actual statute that sets up this and explain it to you as we go."
Appellant argues that this diminished the role of the jury and lulled it into believing that its role was unimportant. A review of the punishment phase jury instructions clearly shows that the trial court correctly instructed the jury on its role in the sentencing process. No error occurred in the above instruction.
"PROCEDURALLY BARRED CLAIMS
"Claims Which Were Raised on Appeal
"Two of the claims raised in the Rule 20 petition were raised and addressed on appeal from Duren's conviction and death sentence:*Page 369"1. Petitioner's sentence was imposed in violation of his constitutional right to due process of law, where petitioner's motion for a new jury sentencing hearing was denied following the recusal of the trial judge.
"6. Petitioner was denied his due process right to the assistance of a defense psychiatrist.
"See, Duren v. State,
507 So.2d 111 (Ala.Cr.App. 1986), aff'd,507 So.2d 121 (Ala. 1987). Claims which were raised on appeal are barred from further review. Temporary Rule 20.2(a)(4), Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure; Ex parte Rudolph,276 Ala. 392 ,393 ,162 So.2d 486 (1964); Richardson v. State,419 So.2d 289 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. denied, No. 81-937 (Ala. 1982); Summers v. State,366 So.2d 336 ,340 (Ala.Cr.App. 1978), cert. denied,366 So.2d 346 (Ala. 1979)."Claims Which Could Have Been But Were Not Raised At Trial
"Five of the claims in the Rule 20 petition could have been but were not raised at trial:
"2. Petitioner's sentence was imposed on consideration of impermissible victim impact evidence, in violation of his right to due process and his Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment.
"3. Petitioner's sentence was imposed in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment prohibition against mandatory sentencing schemes, because the trial court instructed the sentencing jury it was required to return a verdict of death if aggravating evidence outweighed mitigating evidence.
"4. Petitioner's sentence was imposed without review of its proportionality in relation to the punishment of similar crimes throughout the state, in violation of Alabama law and petitioner's right to due process.
"10. Petitioner's sentence was imposed in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments because the trial court improperly instructed the jury as to its role in the sentencing process.
"11. Petitioner's sentence was imposed in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments because the Alabama mandatory sentencing statute is unconstitutional.
"Claims which could have been raised at trial, and then on direct appeal, but were not are barred from further review. Temporary Rule 20.2(a)(3) (5), Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure; Ex parte Ellison,
410 So.2d 130 ,132 (Ala. 1982); Magwood v. State,449 So.2d 1267 ,1268 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. denied, No. 83-1143 (Ala. 1984); Summers v. State, supra."Claims Which Were Raised At Trial But Not On Appeal
"Three of the claims in the Rule 20 petition were raised at trial and therefore could have been raised on appeal:
"5. Petitioner's due process rights were violated by the introduction of impermissible evidence of prior offenses during the sentencing hearing. See, TR. 602.
"7. Petitioner's conviction was obtained by use of confessions coerced from him through physical force and threats, in violation of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. See, TR. 853, 18-49.
"8. Petitioner's Sixth Amendment rights were violated by the trial court's denial of his change of venue motion. See, TR. 861."
Appellant also argues that all the issues raised in his Rule 20 petition should be addressed, since, he argues, counsel was ineffective. Since we find that the appellant was afforded a fair trial and competent counsel as provided for by law, we see no need to address this issue. The appellant was afforded "reasonably effective" counsel as required by the Sixth Amendment. No new trial is required.
AFFIRMED.
All the Judges concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- David Ray Duren v. State.
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- Published