PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

RONALD WAYNE FRYE, 

Petitioner-Appellant,

v.  No. 00-7

R. C. LEE, Warden, Central Prison,

Raleigh, North Carolina,

Respondent-Appellee. 

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Western District of North Carolina, at Statesville.

Lacy H. Thornburg, District Judge.

(CA-99-108-5-T)

Argued: September 26, 2000

Decided: December 22, 2000

Before WILKINSON, Chief Judge, and MOTZ and

KING, Circuit Judges.

Certificate of appealability denied and appeal dismissed by published

opinion. Judge King wrote the opinion, in which Chief Judge Wilkinson and Judge Motz joined. 

COUNSEL

ARGUED: Marilyn Gerk Ozer, William F.W. Massengale,

MASSENGALE & OZER, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for Appellant. Edwin William Welch, Special Deputy Attorney General,

NORTH CAROLINA ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE, Raleigh,

North Carolina, for Appellee. 
OPINION

KING, Circuit Judge: 

Ronald Wayne Frye, sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for the crime of first-degree murder, seeks relief in this Court following the district court’s refusal to grant his petition for a writ of

habeas corpus. Because we conclude that Frye has failed to make a

substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right, we decline

to grant Frye a certificate of appealability, and we dismiss his appeal.

I.

Frye was sentenced to death on November 15, 1993, in the Superior Court of Catawba County, North Carolina, for the murder of his

landlord. The Supreme Court of North Carolina affirmed Frye’s conviction, State v. Frye, 461 S.E.2d 664 (N.C. 1995), and the Supreme

Court of the United States denied certiorari. Frye v. North Carolina,

517 U.S. 1123 (1996). Frye then initiated post-conviction proceedings

in the Superior Court of Catawba County ("MAR court"). The MAR

court denied Frye’s Motion for Appropriate Relief ("MAR"), with its

written decision setting forth findings of fact and conclusions of law.

State v. Frye, No. 93 CRS 1884, No. 93 CRS 3215 (N.C. Super. Ct.

April 24, 1998) (hereinafter cited as "MAR Hearing"). That decision

was upheld on April 8, 1999, when the Supreme Court of North Carolina denied certiorari. State v. Frye, 535 S.E.2d 34 (N.C. 1999). 

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, Frye petitioned for a writ of habeas

corpus in the district court for the Western District of North Carolina.

The Warden ("State") moved for summary judgment, which the district court granted by its Memorandum of Opinion dated March 9,

2000. Frye v. Lee, 89 F. Supp. 2d 693 (W.D.N.C. 2000). On May 30,

2000, the court denied Frye’s application for a certificate of appealability.1

1

 Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2), "a certificate of appealability

may issue . . . only if the applicant has made a substantial showing of the

denial of a constitutional right." 

2 FRYE v. LEE
Frye now appeals to this Court, asserting two constitutional defects

in the imposition of his death sentence. First, Frye claims that he has

been denied his Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of

counsel, alleging, inter alia, that his two court-appointed lawyers

failed to adequately prepare for and present mitigation evidence during the sentencing phase of his jury trial. Second, Frye asserts that

certain jury instructions given during the sentencing phase, specifically those relating to the statutory aggravating circumstance of "heinous, atrocious, or cruel" murder, were unconstitutionally vague and

overbroad. 

A.

The facts underlying this case, summarized below, are largely

drawn from the accounts related by the state courts — the Supreme

Court of North Carolina and the MAR court. See 28 U.S.C.

§ 2254(e)(1) ("In a proceeding instituted by an application for a writ

of habeas corpus by a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of

a State court, a determination of a factual issue made by a State court

shall be presumed to be correct."). 

On January 24, 1993, Frye committed the crime of first-degree

murder in Catawba County, when he repeatedly rammed a pair of

scissors into the neck and chest of his seventy-year-old landlord,

Ralph Childress. Local police, responding to a call from the decedent’s brother, found Mr. Childress dead on the floor of his home

with a pair of scissors protruding from his chest. An empty wallet was

discovered on the floor of the house, and blood stains appeared

throughout the residence. Childress had been stabbed five other times.

Three days later, the police arrested Frye at the apartment of a local

crack dealer. 

Frye was thereafter tried in the Superior Court of Catawba County

for first-degree murder and for robbery with a dangerous weapon. The

prosecution case against Frye was, in a word, substantial. The testimony revealed that, on the day before the murder, Childress had

ordered Frye to vacate his trailer for failing to pay rent. A crack

cocaine dealer, Michael Ramseur, testified for the prosecution that

Frye, just prior to the murder, had attempted to enlist him to rob Childress. According to Ramseur, Frye wanted a third party to commit the

FRYE v. LEE 3
robbery because Frye knew that he would be recognized. Ramseur

refused Frye’s request. On the day after Childress’s murder, Frye,

who had been without sufficient funds to satisfy his drug habit, was

able to purchase crack cocaine with a thick wad of money. Another

witness, Kevin Templeton, testified that Frye told him about robbing

and killing Childress. According to Templeton, Frye only intended to

rob Childress but "got carried away." Other testimony established

that, around the time of the murder, Frye developed cuts on his hand

and somehow obtained large amounts of cash. 

The physical evidence implicating Frye was overwhelming. Frye’s

blood was found at the murder scene on a mattress, on a knife, and

on one of Childress’s pistols. Blood discovered on Frye’s jacket

matched that of the victim. Frye’s attorneys presented no evidence in

defense during the trial’s guilt phase. The jury convicted Frye of firstdegree murder, and it also convicted him of robbery with a dangerous

weapon. 

Frye’s court-appointed lawyers, Theodore Cummings and Thomas

Portwood, possessed a legitimate tactical basis for not presenting evidence of their client’s innocence. Their plan was to instead focus on

avoiding the death penalty by presenting mitigation evidence to the

jury during the trial’s sentencing phase.2 This plan was frustrated,

however, by Frye’s insistence that none of his family members be

contacted. Frye specifically instructed his attorneys that he "would

not permit contact with his family and friends," and would not permit

them "to assist in forming mitigating factors[.]" MAR Hearing at 6,

9. Frye’s lawyers "fully informed" Frye about the consequences of his

decision and "the importance of using family members to develop

mitigating circumstances." Id. at 11. However, Frye "maintained [his]

position throughout the trial." Id. at 9. 

In an effort to deal with the problem created by Frye’s instructions

that family members not participate in his defense, Portwood and

2North Carolina law provides that "[u]pon conviction or adjudication

of guilt of a defendant of a capital felony, the court shall conduct a separate sentencing proceeding to determine whether the defendant should be

sentenced to death or life imprisonment." N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A2000(a)(1) (1999). 

4 FRYE v. LEE
Cummings arranged two separate psychological evaluations of their

client. The first evaluation occurred more than four months before the

trial, at Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina. At the hospital, a psychiatrist performed an extensive analysis of Frye’s psychological state for use by his attorneys in their death penalty defense. 

Two weeks before trial, when it was clear that neither Frye nor his

family members would testify, Portwood and Cummings contacted a

clinical forensic psychologist, Dr. Noble, to secure another evaluation

of Frye and to gather evidence as to his mental state and possible mitigating circumstances. While interviewing with Dr. Noble, Frye

recounted a particularly troubled personal history: at the age of four,

he was given away at a restaurant by his parents to a family of strangers; he was severely beaten and subjected to extreme physical torture

by the father of that family; subsequently, he had lived in several foster homes. Later, as a teenager, Frye dropped out of high school and

abused drugs. He had very few friends — one of whom had been Mr.

Childress, the victim. Moreover, Frye had excessive fears of being

conspired against and of being persecuted. 

During the trial’s sentencing phase, Dr. Noble was called as a

defense witness and asserted that Frye suffered from paranoia, mixed

substance abuse, mixed personality, and child abuse syndrome. Dr.

Noble also testified that Frye possessed a "diminished capacity to

know right from wrong and to conform his behavior to social requirements." Frye, 461 S.E.2d at 671. On cross-examination, however, Dr.

Noble admitted that his knowledge of Frye’s personal history was

limited to what Frye had told him, since Frye had specifically

instructed him not to contact family members. In his closing argument

in the sentencing phase, the prosecutor attacked Dr. Noble’s testimony by suggesting that Frye may have lied to Noble about the horrors of his childhood. 

Frye’s defense attorneys presented one other witness at the sentencing phase. One of Frye’s jailers testified that Frye was wellbehaved in custody, having adapted well to prison life. The prosecution then presented rebuttal evidence consisting of Frye’s criminal

record, which included convictions for destruction of property, resisting arrest and assaulting an officer, felonious breaking and entering,

and various drug crimes. 

FRYE v. LEE 5
In furtherance of his defense, Frye’s attorneys presented the jury

with fifty-nine "mitigating circumstances."3 Under North Carolina

law, if a single juror finds a mitigating circumstance present, the jury

is instructed to answer "Yes" on the verdict form, indicating the presence of that circumstance. See State v. Meyer, 412 S.E.2d 339, 345-

46 (N.C. 1992). In Frye’s case, the jury answered "Yes" to thirty-four

of the fifty-nine asserted mitigating circumstances. However, the jury

also found the aggravating circumstances of the Childress murder to

outweigh those in mitigation, and it recommended a sentence of death.4

The trial judge accepted the jury’s recommendation and imposed the

death penalty. 

B.

As we explained, Frye appealed directly to the Supreme Court of

North Carolina, which upheld the jury verdicts and his death sentence.

Frye then petitioned for review to the Supreme Court of the United

States, which denied certiorari on April 1, 1996. 

On November 18, 1996, Frye filed his MAR in state court. He was

3North Carolina law, particularly N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-2000 (1999),

provides a full list of "aggravating circumstances" and a partial list of

"mitigating circumstances" that a jury may consider in deciding whether

to recommend a death sentence for a defendant convicted of a capital felony. If the jury finds that one or more aggravating circumstances exist

and outweigh mitigating circumstances, it may recommend a death sentence. As explained infra, of the fifty-nine mitigating circumstances presented in this case by Frye’s lawyers, thirty-four were found by the jury

to exist. These thirty-four included, for example: 

38. That the Defendant is [a] victim of child abuse syndrome.

44. The Defendant was whipped repeatedly by his foster father

with a bullwhip. 

55. The Defendant has been a drug abuser since his teens. 

J.A. 129-36. 

4The two aggravating circumstances found by the sentencing jury

were: (1) the Childress murder was committed during an aggravated robbery; and (2) it was "especially heinous, atrocious and cruel." See Part

IV, infra. 

6 FRYE v. LEE
granted an evidentiary hearing in the Criminal Superior Court of

Catawba County (presided over by a judge not previously involved in

Frye’s case or his appeals). That court conducted a four-day MAR

hearing, from October 14-17, 1997, and it denied relief on April 24,

1998. The Supreme Court of North Carolina denied certiorari. 

Since Frye filed his MAR in state court within one year of the

enactment of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of

1996 (AEDPA), 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1), the AEDPA statute of limitations was tolled during his state court proceedings. 28 U.S.C.

§ 2244(d)(2); Hernandez v. Caldwell, 225 F.3d 435, 438 (4th Cir.

2000). After his state court remedies were exhausted, Frye timely

filed his petition for a federal writ of habeas corpus in the district

court. The district court granted the State’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed the petition. Frye now seeks to appeal. We review

de novo the district court’s grant of summary judgment. Becton v.

Barnett, 920 F.2d 1190, 1192 (4th Cir. 1990). 

II.

A.

Frye has raised two constitutional questions in this proceeding.

Frye initially contends that he was denied his right to the effective

assistance of counsel because his lawyers failed to competently prepare for the sentencing phase of his trial. Frye alleges two different

bases for the ineffective assistance of his counsel. First, he asserts that

his lawyers were constitutionally ineffective in not presenting the jury

with supplemental witnesses and other evidence to verify and explain

Frye’s troubled past. Specifically, Frye maintains that additional nonfamily witnesses and certain documentary evidence would have provided crucial support of the mitigating circumstances presented to the

jury by Dr. Noble. Perhaps more importantly, this evidence may have

facilitated the jury’s belief in the story of Frye’s childhood, as related

to the jury through Dr. Noble. Second, Frye maintains that his representation in the trial’s sentencing phase was compromised by an

asserted alcohol dependency on the part of Mr. Portwood. According

to the district court, Portwood consumed approximately twelve

ounces of liquor each evening during the course of the trial, but was

FRYE v. LEE 7
never intoxicated prior to or during each day’s proceedings. Frye, 89

F. Supp. 2d at 701. 

Frye also contends that constitutional error is found in the sentencing court’s jury instructions regarding the "heinous, atrocious, or

cruel" aggravating circumstance of the Childress murder. These terms

may be, without an appropriate limiting instruction, unconstitutionally

vague. Maynard v. Cartwright, 486 U.S. 356, 363-64 (1988).

Although the instruction in this case was accompanied by a narrowing

provision, Frye argues that the limiting language does not meet the

standards required by Maynard and Godfrey v. Georgia, 446 U.S. 420

(1980).5 Thus, Frye contends that this instruction, as given, did not

provide adequate guidance to the jury in limiting the circumstances

in which a death sentence is warranted. 

B.

As pointed out above, both of the constitutional claims asserted by

Frye have been adjudicated on their merits by the North Carolina state

courts. Accordingly, we review his 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d) petition

under the standards recently enunciated by the Supreme Court in Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 120 S. Ct. 1495 (2000). Under § 2254,

as interpreted by Williams, we are precluded from granting habeas

corpus relief unless we find the state court’s decision "was contrary

to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established

Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United

States." Id. at 1518. Thus Frye can only secure relief by demonstrating: (1) the state court decision was contrary to, or an unreasonable

application of, federal law that (2) was clearly established. 

At the threshold, we must consider whether Frye’s claims are

premised on "clearly established Federal law." The first claim in

5The limiting provision of the challenged instruction in this case provides as follows: 

For this murder to have been especially heinous[,] atrocious or

cruel, any brutality which was involved in it must have exceeded

that [which] is normally present in any killing. Or this murder

must have been a [conscienceless] or pitiless crime which was

unnecessarily torturous to the victim. 

8 FRYE v. LEE
Frye’s petition — ineffective counsel — is certainly based on clearly

established law, notably Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668

(1984). In Strickland, the Supreme Court held that, for a conviction

to be invalidated because of ineffective assistance, the defendant must

show that "particular errors of counsel were unreasonable [and that

those errors] actually had an adverse effect on the defense." Id. at 693.

Williams involved facts somewhat similar to those here, i.e., failure

to present mitigation evidence. In Williams, the petitioner argued that

his claim was premised on Strickland, and it thus satisfied the requirement of being based on clearly established federal law. The Supreme

Court agreed, observing that the question of whether the petition fell

under clearly established law was "easily answered." Williams, 120 S.

Ct. at 1511. This observation applies to Frye’s ineffective assistance

claim as well. 

Frye’s second claim — the unconstitutional instruction — is based

on the Supreme Court’s decision in Shell v. Mississippi, 498 U.S. 1

(1990), and on a line of related authorities. Although the challenged

instruction in Frye’s case is similar to the one held to be unconstitutional in Shell, the instruction under challenge here contained a limiting provision that, the State argues, cures the Shell problem. While we

must determine whether the State’s position has validity, this second

claim of Frye’s petition is also governed by clearly established law

enunciated by the Supreme Court. 

Our conclusion that Frye’s claims are premised on clearly established federal law, however, merely allows us to continue our inquiry.

Even though Frye’s petition is properly premised on errors of clearly

established federal law, we may not grant habeas corpus relief merely

because we conclude "that the relevant state-court decision applied

[such law] erroneously or incorrectly." Rather, the state court’s "application must also be unreasonable" in order for us to grant the writ.6

Williams, 120 S. Ct. at 1522 (emphasis added). We are cognizant of,

and we are bound to apply, the Williams reasonableness standard as

we analyze and consider the claims made in this proceeding. 

6On the interpretation of the crucial word "unreasonable," the Court

counseled that "the most important point is that an unreasonable application of federal law is different from an incorrect application of federal

law." Williams, 120 S. Ct. at 1522. 

FRYE v. LEE 9
III.

A.

1.

Frye asserts that his counsel was constitutionally ineffective for

failing to adequately investigate and present mitigating evidence to

the jury. His claim is primarily based on his assertion that the holding

in Williams, supra, is controlling in his case. In Williams, the Court

held defense counsel’s performance deficient for failing to adequately

prepare for the sentencing phase of a murder trial. We, however, are

able to identify controlling factual distinctions that doom Frye’s

claims. In Williams, for example, preparations were not even begun

until a week before trial. And when counsel finally prepared the

defense, they purposely ignored evidence of the "petitioner’s nightmarish childhood, not because of any strategic calculation, but

because they incorrectly thought state law barred access to such

records[.]" Williams, 120 S. Ct. at 1514. 

Another important factor distinguishing this case is that Frye adamantly refused to permit his lawyers to contact his family members

or to engage their services in securing mitigation evidence. In Williams, the prisoner’s counsel failed to gather the required evidence

because of professional negligence, while in this situation Frye personally stymied his lawyers’ efforts. As the Supreme Court concluded

in Strickland, "when a defendant has given counsel reason to believe

that pursuing certain investigations would be fruitless or even harmful, counsel’s failure to pursue those investigations may not later be

challenged as unreasonable." Strickland, 466 U.S. at 691. 

Based on Frye’s refusal to allow himself or his family members to

participate in the development or presentation of mitigation evidence,

Frye’s counsel came to the reasonable conclusion that attempting to

find such evidence would be fruitless. Simply because a defendant

objects to the development of evidence, however, does not necessarily

absolve his lawyers from gathering that evidence. The Sixth Circuit,

in a situation involving failure to present adequate mitigation evidence, observed that "reluctance on [the defendant’s] part to present

a mental health defense or to testify should not preclude counsel’s

10 FRYE v. LEE
investigation of those potential factors." Carter v. Bell, 218 F.3d 581,

596 (6th Cir. 2000). Similarly, the Eleventh Circuit has found error

when defendant’s counsel "acquiesced in [the defendant’s] defeatism

without knowing what evidence [the defendant] was foregoing."

Blanco v. Singletary, 943 F.2d 1477, 1501 (11th Cir. 1991). See also

Emerson v. Gramley, 91 F.3d 898, 908 (7th Cir. 1996).7

2.

The controlling distinction in this case, however, is that Frye not

only flatly forbade his attorneys from involving his family in investigating his background, but that his defense counsel also took numerous alternative steps to prepare for and present evidence of Frye’s

personal history. Unlike the cases arising from the Sixth and Eleventh

Circuits, supra, this is not a situation where counsel completely gave

up in response to reluctance or defeatism that ambiguously telegraphed the client’s uninformed wishes. Frye gave repeated and

explicit instructions to his lawyers about not contacting or involving

family members. Nonetheless, counsel convinced him to go to Dorothea Dix Hospital for a psychological evaluation.8

 They then hired Dr.

Noble to examine their client and present evidence to the sentencing

7Furthermore, the American Bar Association’s guidelines for defense

counsel in death penalty cases provide that "investigation for preparation

of the sentencing phase should be conducted regardless of any initial

assertion by the client that mitigation is not to be offered." American Bar

Association, Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Counsel in Death Penalty Cases § 11.4.1.c (1989). While practice advisories

such as those published by the ABA are "guides to determining what is

reasonable," they cannot always "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, 366

U.S. at 688. 

8Frye now argues that his position changed after the Dix report was

prepared, and that counsel then had a duty to investigate notwithstanding

his earlier instructions. The problem with this argument, raised in Frye’s

reply brief, is that it is contradicted by the facts reasonably found by the

state court. MAR Hearing at 6 ("The defendant maintained his position

that he did not want his family members . . . to assist in forming mitigating factors throughout the trial up to and including the sentencing

phase.") (emphasis added). 

FRYE v. LEE 11
jury. These steps were a logical — and indeed thorough — response

to Frye’s continued insistence that he did not want his family members "to assist in forming mitigating factors[.]" MAR Hearing at 6. As

the MAR court concluded, defense counsel painstakingly informed

Frye of the consequences of not involving family members in the mitigation stage. Id. Frye, however, refused to accede to the warnings

and advice of his lawyers. And it is not our role to second-guess the

competence of counsel in these circumstances. Fisher v. Lee, 215

F.3d 438, 447 (4th Cir. 2000); Eaton v. Angelone, 139 F.3d 990, 994

(4th Cir. 1998). 

This is simply not a case involving professional negligence or lack

of attention on the part of counsel. We instead perceive this to be a

situation where two court-appointed lawyers endeavored to do their

best, under difficult circumstances interposed by their client. Frye’s

counsel, as a result of their investigation, knew that Frye had suffered

from serious child abuse and neglect, and they introduced evidence

in that connection — in the most effective way possible under the circumstances. However, Frye now claims that the method of introducing the evidence — through Dr. Noble — was constitutionally

inadequate, in part because Dr. Noble was not presented with sufficient background information about Frye. In this regard, Frye relies

on our decision in McCarver v. Lee, 221 F.3d 583, 595 (4th Cir.

2000), where we concluded that "it is sound and reasonable trial strategy to provide all available information" to an expert psychological

witness. 

Frye’s reliance on McCarver, however, is misplaced, and he overstates its relevance in this instance. While it may be "reasonable" to

provide an expert witness with all available information, we did not

hold in McCarver that it is per se "unreasonable" to fail to provide

the expert with such information. Importantly, Frye’s attorneys simply did not possess all the relevant information, and they were not

privy to it, because of their client’s steadfast refusal to allow them to

complete a full investigation.9 Significantly, however, counsel pro9Frye asserts additional authority that, as a general proposition, it constitutes ineffective assistance not to provide expert psychological witnesses with background material. See Wallace v. Stewart, 184 F.3d 1112

(9th Cir. 1999); Hendricks v. Calderon, 70 F.3d 1032 (9th Cir. 1995).

These decisions are inapposite, inasmuch as they do not involve situations where the defendant insisted that his family members not be

involved in "forming mitigating factors." 

12 FRYE v. LEE
vided Dr. Noble with a "stack" of documents from Dorothea Dix Hospital, which was all the "available information" they were able to

provide while honoring their client’s explicit instructions. 

Dr. Noble testified at the MAR hearing that his work in preparing

for trial was constrained by the lack of time and paucity of background material, and that he was unable to testify as convincingly as

he otherwise might have. However, he gave no indication, either at

trial or at the MAR hearing, that he had been unable to render a competent opinion. Indeed, at the MAR hearing, he testified that supplementary materials concerning Frye’s background (which Frye’s trial

counsel did not uncover and therefore did not present to Dr. Noble

before his testimony) had "not really altered [his] diagnosis[.]" J.A.

418. 

The purpose of Frye’s pretrial meeting with Dr. Noble was to

develop additional evidence and history, which Frye was unwilling to

allow his lawyers to uncover by way of interviews with his family.

Frye only agreed to meet with Dr. Noble on the insistence of his

counsel, which led to a compromise — between Frye and his lawyers

— that Frye would accept expert testimony as an alternative way of

presenting mitigating evidence. In these circumstances, any diminution in the effectiveness of Dr. Noble’s testimony did not result from

his counsel’s lack of competence, but emanated directly from Frye’s

refusal to follow their advice. 

Notwithstanding the complications hindering its development, Dr.

Noble’s testimony was effective, as demonstrated by the jury’s acceptance of thirty-four of the fifty-nine mitigating circumstances.

Whether Dr. Noble could have been more effective if corroborated by

other evidence is speculative. We must, under the law, judge the reasonableness of the lawyers’ conduct as of the time their actions

occurred, not the conduct’s consequences after the fact. Strickland,

466 U.S. at 689 ("A fair assessment of attorney performance requires

that every effort be made to eliminate the distorting effects of hindsight, to reconstruct the circumstances of counsel’s challenged conduct, and to evaluate the conduct from counsel’s perspective at the

time."); see also Bunch v. Thompson, 949 F.2d 1354, 1363 (4th Cir.

1991) ("When examining ineffective assistance claims, however, we

must appreciate the practical limitations and tactical decisions that

FRYE v. LEE 13
trial counsel faced."). In this situation, the presentation of mitigation

evidence through Dr. Noble was a reasonable solution to the dilemma

faced by Frye’s lawyers. 

3.

In our analysis of the ineffective assistance claim alleged by Frye,

we are mindful that in North Carolina — as in most jurisdictions —

the client must be permitted by his lawyers to control his own

defense, as long as he is "fully informed" in making his decisions. See

State v. White, 508 S.E.2d 253, 273 (N.C. 1998), cert. denied, 527

U.S. 1026 (1999); State v. Wilkinson, 474 S.E.2d 375, 382 (N.C.

1996) ("The attorney is bound to comply with her client’s lawful

instructions, ‘and her actions are restricted to the scope of the authority conferred.’") (quoting People v. Wilkerson, 463 N.E.2d 139, 143-

44 (Ill. App. Ct. 1984)); State v. Ali, 407 S.E.2d 183, 189 (N.C. 1991).

Frye’s attorneys took reasonable steps to comply with their professional responsibilities in this regard. Frye’s decision not to allow his

family to aid in mitigation was unchanged after repeated discussions

where his lawyers explained their displeasure with his position, and

the consequences thereof. The MAR court specifically found that: 

Mr. Portwood engaged in several conferences with the

defendant wherein he sought to convince the defendant to

permit the defense to produce mitigating evidence. Also,

Mr. Portwood tried to convince the defendant to permit family members to testify.

MAR Hearing at 6. There is simply no basis for us to conclude that

this finding of fact is unreasonable. Williams, 120 S. Ct. at 1522.

Indeed, this finding is fully supported in the record, and it is uncontroverted. Were we to hold that Portwood and Cummings rendered ineffective assistance, despite their repeated attempts to have Frye change

his mind on presenting mitigation evidence, we would be forcing

defense lawyers in future cases to choose between Scylla and Charybdis.10 If the lawyer facing a reluctant client accedes to the client’s

10In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus is presented with a most difficult

choice: he must sail through straits that are bracketed by two monsters,

14 FRYE v. LEE
requests, he might be constitutionally ineffective. On the other hand,

if the lawyer defies his client’s wishes, and in so doing presents evidence that harms the client, he might render ineffective assistance and

commit malpractice as well. 

B.

Frye also contends, in connection with his ineffective assistance

claim, that Portwood’s asserted alcohol dependency rendered him

incapable of providing constitutionally effective assistance up to and

during the sentencing phase of the trial. We are indeed troubled by

Portwood’s acknowledgment of a decades-long routine of drinking

approximately twelve ounces of rum each evening. However, the district court found that Portwood "never consumed alcohol during the

work day and never performed any work on the case when he had

consumed alcohol." Frye, 89 F. Supp. 2d at 701. We agree with our

sister circuits that, in order for an attorney’s alcohol addiction to make

his assistance constitutionally ineffective, there must be specific

instances of deficient performance attributable to alcohol. See Bonin

v. Calderon, 59 F.3d 815, 838 (9th Cir. 1995); Cabarello v. Keane,

42 F.3d 738, 740 (2d Cir. 1994); Berry v. King, 765 F.2d 451, 454

(5th Cir. 1985); Young v. Zant, 727 F.2d 1489, 1492-93 (11th Cir.

1984). In this case, there is no evidence of specific instances of defective performance caused by Portwood’s alcohol abuse.11 Furthermore,

it is significant that Frye was not represented by Portwood alone —

he had the benefit of two court-appointed lawyers assisting in his

defense. And no attack is made on the professional capacity of Mr.

Cummings. See Lopez-Nieves v. United States, 917 F.2d 645, 647 (1st

Cir. 1990) ("[T]he presence of a second attorney during the proceedand he must choose a course which leads closer to one or the other. One

choice, Scylla, is a six-headed creature who is certain to eat six of his

crewman, while the other, Charybdis, spews forth a whirlpool that poses

an uncertain risk to the entire ship and crew. Odysseus, following the

advice of the sorceress Circe, chose Scylla, and six of his men perished.

11Indeed, with respect to Portwood’s alcohol dependency, Cummings

testified at the MAR hearing that he "never saw Mr. Portwood’s professional demeanor or behavior affected by the consumption of alcohol" and

that he was a "diligent, hard-working lawyer working for the defendant[.]" J.A. 742. 

FRYE v. LEE 15
ings seriously undermines appellant’s claim of ineffective assistance

of counsel."). 

C.

Under the Strickland standard, the performance of Frye’s lawyers

was simply not deficient, and the sentencing phase defense was conducted reasonably. Moreover, Frye is unable to point to a single

instance where Portwood’s consumption of alcohol affected his performance. We have carefully considered all of Frye’s contentions in

this regard, and we are unable to conclude that the legal assistance he

received was constitutionally defective.12

IV.

Frye also claims that the jury instruction relating to a statutory

aggravating circumstance was unconstitutionally vague and overbroad. This instruction was given with respect to the jury’s determination of whether the prosecution had established the aggravating

circumstance that the Childress murder was "heinous, atrocious, or

cruel" under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-2000(e)(9) (1999).13

12Having concluded that the performance of Frye’s counsel was not

deficient, we need not decide whether Frye was prejudiced by the errors

he alleged. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 697 ("[T]here is no reason for a court

deciding an ineffective assistance claim to . . . address both components

of the inquiry if the defendant makes an insufficient showing on one.").

See also Chandler v. United States, 218 F.3d 1305, n.44 (11th Cir. 2000);

LaGrand v. Stewart, 133 F.3d 1253, 1270 (9th Cir. 1998). 

13The entirety of the sentencing instruction on the aggravating circumstance of "heinous, atrocious, or cruel," embodied in § 15A-2000(e)(9),

was as follows: 

Aggravating factor number two. Was this murder especially heinous[,] atrocious or cruel? In this context heinous means

extremely wicked or shockingly evil. Atrocious means outrageously wicked and vile. And cruel means designed to inflict a

high degree of pain with utter indifference to and even enjoyment of the suffering of others. However, it is not enough that

this murder be heinous[,] atrocious or cruel as these terms have

just been defined. This murder must have been especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, and not every murder is especially so.

16 FRYE v. LEE
As we have pointed out, the first paragraph of the challenged

instruction bears similarities to the instruction found to be unconstitutional in Maynard, 486 U.S. at 363-64. The Maynard instruction, like

this one, was given pursuant to state law which permitted imposition

of a death sentence if the murder was "especially heinous, atrocious,

or cruel." In Maynard, the Court held the instruction overly vague,

and therefore unconstitutional, because it provided no meaningful

basis to distinguish a murder warranting the death penalty from those

in which the ultimate punishment should not be imposed. 486 U.S. at

363-64. See also Godfrey, 446 U.S. at 428-29. 

Likewise, we have previously held a North Carolina instruction on

the statutory aggravating circumstance of "especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel" to be, standing alone, unconstitutionally vague. Smith

v. Dixon, 14 F.3d 956, 974 (4th Cir. 1994) (en banc). There is, however, a controlling distinction here — the instruction given to Frye’s

jury did not stand alone. A statutory aggravating circumstance that is

otherwise vague may be constitutional if it is accompanied by an

appropriate limiting provision providing sufficient guidance to the

jury. Fisher v. Lee, 215 F.3d at 457-58. Indeed, the Supreme Court

of North Carolina, in Frye’s direct appeal, held that the limiting

explanation in this case — defining the level of brutality or torture to

the victim — provided sufficient guidance to the jury. Frye, 461

S.E.2d at 685. We are unable to disturb the state court’s finding in this

regard, since it was not contrary to, or an unreasonable application of,

governing Supreme Court precedent. 

V.

We find no reason to upset the carefully considered judgments of

the courts that have considered Frye’s petitions for post-conviction

For this murder to have been especially heinous[,] atrocious or

cruel, any brutality which was involved in it must have exceeded

that [which] is normally present in any killing. Or this murder

must have been a [conscienceless] or pitiless crime which was

unnecessarily torturous to the victim. 

J.A. 97-98. 

FRYE v. LEE 17
relief. Neither the MAR court’s conclusion that Frye’s lawyers were

not constitutionally ineffective, nor the Supreme Court of North Carolina’s conclusion that the sentencing instruction was not unconstitutionally vague, constitutes an unreasonable application of governing

legal principles enunciated by the Supreme Court of the United

States. The district court therefore properly granted summary judgment to the State. We must decline to issue Frye a certificate of

appealability, and we dismiss his appeal. 

CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY

DENIED AND APPEAL DISMISSED

18 FRYE v. LEE