Case Title: Ex Parte Whisenhant

Citation: 555 So. 2d 235

Docket Number: 

State: alabama

Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Date: 1989-09-15T00:00:00Z

Document:
555 So. 2d 235 (1989)
Ex Parte Thomas Warren WHISENHANT.
(Re Thomas Warren Whisenhant
v.
State of Alabama).
88-10.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
September 15, 1989.
Rehearing Denied December 22, 1989.
*236 Morris S. Dees and J. Richard Cohen, Montgomery, for petitioner.
Don Siegelman, Atty. Gen., and William D. Little, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondent.
KENNEDY, Justice.
Thomas Warren Whisenhant was first convicted and sentenced to death in 1977 for the rape and murder of Cheryl Lynn Payton, which occurred in Mobile County. The facts of the murder are set out in Whisenhant v. State, 370 So. 2d 1080 (Ala. *237 Cr.App.1979), and the statement of facts in that opinion is adopted by this Court as if fully set out herein.
Whisenhant's first trial was conducted in Jefferson County, after a motion for change of venue was granted by the trial judge. The Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the conviction because of improper argument by the prosecutor. In 1981, Whisenhant was retried, this time in Mobile County, and was again convicted and sentenced to death. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction, but reversed his sentence because the prosecutor, in his opening statement at the sentencing phase, accused Whisenhant of having committed other crimes, evidence of which had not been introduced during trial. This Court then granted cross-petitions for certiorari and remanded to the Court of Criminal Appeals for a determination of whether the prosecutor's remarks were harmless error. The Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that the remarks were harmless error and thereby affirmed the sentence. On return from remand, this Court held that the error caused by the prosecutor's remarks was not harmless and remanded the case to the Court of Criminal Appeals with instructions that the case be remanded to the trial court for a new sentencing trial. After remand by the Court of Criminal Appeals, Whisenhant received another sentencing trial, and the jury recommended that he be given the death penalty. The trial court accepted the jury's recommendation and sentenced Whisenhant for the third time to death by electrocution. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the sentence and we, by this opinion, affirm the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals.
Whisenhant raises the following issues:
(1) Was the trial judge's refusal to recuse himself a violation of the defendant's constitutional rights?
(2) Did the trial court commit reversible error by refusing to change the venue of the trial from Mobile County?
(3) Did Attorney General Siegelman violate the constitutional rights of the defendant when he called a press conference to discuss the case 15 days before trial?
(4) Was the trial court in error when it disqualified a veniremember because of her hesitancy to impose the death penalty?
(5) Did the prosecutor commit reversible error when he referred to the appeals process in closing argument?
(6) Did the trial court improperly refuse to give the defendant's requested jury instructions on nonstatutory mitigating circumstances?
(7) Did the admission of testimony of the victim's mother violate the defendant's constitutional rights?
Circuit Judge Ferrill McRae presided over the first and second sentencing trials and, in each case, accepted the jury's recommendation that Whisenhant be sentenced to death. Judge McRae also presided over the third sentencing trial.
Prior to the third sentencing trial, Judge McRae responded as follows to a motion in limine by the defendant regarding the admissibility of certain evidence offered by the state:
Based on these remarks, the defendant immediately made a motion for recusal, arguing that the judge had a fixed opinion regarding the mitigating circumstance of a capital offense "committed while the defendant was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance," Code 1975, § 13A-5-51(2), or a capital offense *238 committed when the defendant could not "appreciate the criminality of his conduct" or "conform his conduct to the requirements of the law," Code 1975, § 13A-5-51(6).
The statements by the trial judge did not provide grounds for recusal. Rather, they occurred in response to a motion by the defendant to prohibit the family of Cheryl Lynn Payton from testifying. His comments were a reflection of his knowledge of the case and reflected no personal enmity. To disqualify a judge for bias, the bias must be shown to be personal. Ex parte Large, 501 So. 2d 1208, 1210-11 (Ala. 1986). A search of the record reveals no personal bias on the part of the trial judge towards the defendant.
In addition, the fact that the trial judge had presided over the defendant's previous two sentencing trials was not grounds for disqualification. A trial judge need not recuse himself solely on the ground that he was the "same trial judge who had heard the case and imposed the death penalty" in a defendant's prior trial. Ex parte Whisenhant, 482 So. 2d 1241, 1245 (Ala.1983).
The defendant argues that the trial judge committed reversible error by refusing to change the venue of the trial; that for the same reasons the original trial was moved to Jefferson County from Mobile County, this trial should also have been moved; and that a high percentage of those living in Mobile County were predisposed to favoring the death penalty because of unfavorable publicity in the Mobile area regarding this case.
Code 1975, § 15-2-20(a), states the following:
To ensure that the defendant has a fair and impartial jury, it is not necessary that the veniremembers be totally ignorant of the facts surrounding the case. Murphy v. Florida, 421 U.S. 794, 799, 95 S. Ct. 2031, 2035, 44 L. Ed. 2d 589 (1975). "It is sufficient if the juror can lay aside his impression or opinion and render a verdict based on the evidence presented in court." Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. 717, 724, 81 S. Ct. 1639, 1643, 6 L. Ed. 2d 751 (1961).
In 1977, the publicity surrounding the the murder of Cheryl Lynn Payton and the ensuing trial of Thomas Whisenhant was very intense. However, 10 years had passed from the time of the murder to the third sentencing trial. This 10-year period is significant, because it allowed the details of the case to fade from the minds of potential jurors. "That time soothes and erases is a perfectly natural phenomenon to all." Patton v. Yount, 467 U.S. 1025, 1033, 104 S. Ct. 2885, 2889, 81 L. Ed. 2d 847 (1984). From the record, it is obvious that the passage of 10 years had dulled the memories of most of the veniremembers. The record reveals that although many jurors had a rudimentary knowledge of Whisenhant and what he had done, very few remembered whether he had received a sentence of life imprisonment or of death. Those who did remember the sentence were properly excused by the trial court.
Fifteen days before this third sentencing trial, Attorney General Don Siegelman called a press conference in Mobile. The press conference received extensive media coverage and was preceded by the issuance of a press release, which was circulated to the Mobile news media. At the press conference, Siegelman announced that an attorney from his office (Tom Sorrells) was joining the Mobile district attorney to "make this retrial the last one for Thomas Whisenhant." Siegelman said that he had *239 instructed the state's attorneys to seek the death penalty because "there are some crimes that are so outrageous and offend the moral standards of society to such an extent that capital punishment is an appropriate penalty. This is clearly such a case."
The trial court, through careful questioning, was able to determine that all but one veniremember could not remember the attorney general's statements. The one veniremember who did remember them was excused by the trial judge. Therefore, we find that the attorney general's press conference did not deprive the defendant of his due process rights.
At the sentencing trial, the court allowed the defendant to question prospective jurors individually about what they knew about the specific facts of the defendant's previous trials. The defendant admits that individual voir dire was allowed, but contends that the court was unduly restrictive in not allowing him to question prospective jurors about the effect of pre-trial publicity on their ability to sentence the defendant in an impartial manner.
The jurors were also interviewed in panels of 12; during that process the defendant was restricted from asking questions about pre-trial publicity in front of these 12-member panels. This was done to ensure that these panels would not be tainted by the statement(s) of a single juror.
To those who had heard of the case from the media, Judge McRae then stated the following:
Having reviewed the record, we agree with the Court of Criminal Appeals "that the trial court asked all the questions necessary to insure that the jurors would give this appellant a fair and impartial trial." Those jurors who felt that they could not listen impartially, those who knew of Attorney General Siegelman's press conference, and those who knew that the defendant had received the death penalty in a prior trial were excused from the venire. Therefore, we agree with the Court of Criminal Appeals that the defendant had a fair and impartial jury and that the trial court was correct in refusing to change the venue of the trial.
The defendant argues that the trial court committed reversible error when it excused juror Karen Steadham from the venire. After being asked about her ability to impose the death penalty, Steadham responded as follows:
The proper test for determining whether a prospective juror may be removed for cause for her views on capital punishment is whether her views would "`prevent or substantially impair'" her from properly performing her duties as a juror. Wainwright v. Witt, 469 U.S. 412, 423, 105 S. Ct. 844, 851, 83 L. Ed. 2d 841 (1985), quoting Adams v. Texas, 448 U.S. *241 38, 44, 100 S. Ct. 2521, 2526, 65 L. Ed. 2d 581 (1980). The defendant contends that Steadham's views on capital punishment could not be determined with certainty. However, a blanket declaration of support of or opposition to the death penalty is not necessary for a trial judge to disqualify a juror.
Wainwright, 469 U.S.  at 423-26, 105 S. Ct.  at 851-54.
Based on Karen Steadham's responses, we find that her views on capital punishment made her "unable to faithfully and impartially apply the law." Therefore, the trial court was correct in excluding her from the venire.
The defendant argues that the prosecutor, in his closing argument, "improperly minimized the jury's sense of responsibility for determining the appropriateness of a death sentence" by arguing the following:
The State contends that it was not attempting to minimize the jury's role in the capital sentencing process, but was responding to the following arguments by the defendant that the jury should find Whisenhant's participation in an F.B.I. study of multiple murderers to be a mitigating circumstance:
It is clear that the State was responding to the defendant's participation in the F.B.I. survey rather than attempting to minimize the jury's sense of responsibility.
United States v. Young, 470 U.S. 1, 10, 105 S. Ct. 1038, 1043, 84 L. Ed. 2d 1 (1985).
As the Court of Criminal Appeals pointed out, "the prosecutor was attempting to point out that this appellant did not fit the proper criteria for the F.B.I. study and, thus, his cooperation was self-serving in that it may be considered a nonstatutory mitigating circumstance on appeal." Whisenhant v. State, 555 So. 2d 219 (Ala.Crim. App.1988). We agree with the Court of Criminal Appeals' finding that the prosecutor's arguments were not improper.
At the sentencing trial, the defendant requested that the court give his proposed jury instruction # 10, listing the nonstatutory mitigating circumstances that he felt were supported by the evidence at trial:
*243 The trial judge gave the following instructions to the jury regarding nonstatutory mitigating circumstances:
The Eleventh United States Circuit Court of Appeals requires that the trial judge do the following when instructing the jury on mitigating circumstances in a death penalty case:
"(1) instruct the jury that it must consider mitigating evidence, (2) define mitigating factors and explain their function in sentencing deliberations, and (3) inform the jurors that a finding of aggravating circumstances does not require them to return a death sentence."
Tucker v. Zant, 724 F.2d 882, 891 (11th Cir.1984).
The trial court's instructions satisfied the requirements of Tucker. Therefore, we find that the trial court did not commit error by denying the defendant's requested jury instruction # 10.
At the sentencing trial, the judge allowed the victim's mother, Vivian Gazzier, to testify regarding the fear her daughter had felt because of two other convenience store murders in the Mobile area during the two years preceding her daughter's murder. Mrs. Grazzier testified that her daughter had turned in her resignation on the day she was murdered because of the fear she felt. The defendant argues that the trial court committed error in admitting Gazzier's testimony because, he argues, the testimony was not relevant to any aggravating circumstances proffered by the State and was inadmissible hearsay. The trial court admitted the mother's testimony, based on the following reasoning:
In order for a trial court to find that a murder was heinous, atrocious, and cruel, the crime must be of such a nature that it is "conscienceless or pitiless" and "unnecessarily torturous to the victim." Ex parte Kyzer, 399 So. 2d 330, 334 (Ala.1981).
The defendant argues that this case is analogous to that of Booth v. Maryland, 482 U.S. 496, 107 S. Ct. 2529, 96 L. Ed. 2d 440 (1987), and that the judgment must, therefore, be reversed. We disagree. In Booth, an elderly Baltimore, Maryland, couple were brutally stabbed to death by the defendant Booth and an accomplice. Before the sentencing phase of the trial, the State Division of Parole and Probation interviewed the victims' son, daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter. These interviews were then compiled into a "Victim Impact Statement" (V.I.S.) The V.I.S. included very emotional statements by those interviewed and spoke of the many fine qualities of the deceased. The Division of Parole and Probation official who interviewed the survivors concluded the report by writing:
Id., 482 U.S.  at 498-99, 107 S. Ct.  at 2531-32.
The prosecutor in Booth, over defense counsel objections, read the V.I.S. to the jury. The jury sentenced Booth to die for one of the murders and to life imprisonment for the other murder. The United States Supreme Court overturned the capital conviction, holding that the introduction of the V.I.S. violated the Eighth Amendment. Id., 482 U.S.  at 504, 107 S. Ct.  at 2536.
The facts of this case differ markedly from those in Booth. Here, the testimony that the trial court relied on dealt not with the suffering Mrs. Gazzier had experienced since the murder, but rather the fear that Cheryl Lynn Payton experienced leading up to her murder. Unlike the jury in Booth, the trial court in this case relied on the emotions that Cheryl Lynn Payton felt, not the emotions felt by her survivors. In Booth, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction because the defendant had no control over the emotions that the surviving relatives felt. Here, the defendant surely was aware that, because of the recent crimes he had committed, a female convenience store clerk like Cheryl Lynn Payton would be afraid of being abducted, raped, and murdered.
We adopt, by reference, the language of the trial judge regarding this aggravating circumstance, and we conclude that his finding was proper.
In addition, the statements made by the victim's mother, although hearsay, were admissible because they were declarations of the emotion of fear. C. Gamble, McElroy's Alabama Evidence, 262.01(11) (3d ed.1977). The trial court, therefore, was correct in admitting the testimony of Mrs. Gazzier.
This Court, having searched the record, finds no plain error or defect that adversely affected any of Whisenhant's substantial rights.
*245 The record reveals no evidence that the sentence of death resulted from or "was imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor." Code 1975, § 13A-5-53(b)(1).
In addition, the sentence in this case is not disproportionate to the sentence imposed in similar capital punishment cases. Bradley v. State, 494 So. 2d 750 (Ala.Cr. App.1985), affirmed, 494 So. 2d 772 (Ala. 1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 923, 107 S. Ct. 1385, 94 L. Ed. 2d 699 (1987) (rape/murder); Dunkins v. State, 437 So. 2d 1349 (Ala.Cr. App.), affirmed, 437 So. 2d 1356 (Ala.1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1051, 104 S. Ct. 1329, 79 L. Ed. 2d 724 (1984) (rape/intentional killing).
The trial court found that the following four aggravating circumstances existed (pursuant to Code 1975, §§ 13-11-6):
"The Section 13-11-6(8) aggravating circumstance does exist. [The trial court's discussion of the § 13-11-6(8) aggravating circumstance is quoted above.]"
The court found that no statutory mitigating circumstances existed. However, the court did find that the following nonstatutory mitigating circumstances existed:
Having independently weighed the evidence in the record, we feel that those nonstatutory mitigating circumstances found by the trial court deserve consideration. However, after consideration of these circumstances, we are of the opinion that the aggravating circumstances of the crime far outweigh the mitigating circumstances.
After review of the entire record, this Court is convinced that Thomas Warren Whisenhant received a fair trial; his sentence of death by electrocution for the murder *246 of Cheryl Lynn Payton is due to be affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
HORNSBY, C.J., and MADDOX, JONES, SHORES, ADAMS, HOUSTON and STEAGALL, JJ., concur.