Opinion ID: 151087
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Third Trial

Text: In the third trial, Valerie Smedley again represented Hall. Hall again renewed his same suppression motion, which the state trial court again denied. The State called these witnesses: (1) the four victims (Diane Jackson, Benson Rivers, Crystal Franklin, and Barbara Rush), (2) Sargeant Ronald Wilhoit, and (3) Officer Major. The defense called: (1) Defendant Hall, (2) Joseph Grady, (3) Reginald Powell, (4) seven alibi witnesses (John Cartas, Ann Cartas, Dwayne Hall, Quinton Armstrong, Jarvis Blocton, LaQuanda Hall, and Bonnie Hall), and (5) Curtis Hall. In rebuttal, the State called: (1) Officers Grant and Major, and (2) Charles Chambers, a BellSouth records custodian. Because Hall claims his trial attorney was ineffective, we outline the trial evidence in detail.
The four victims recounted the crimes. On October 15, 1999, Diane Jackson, owner of the Little People's Workshop, was working at the day care center. That evening at about 5:00 p.m. or 5:15 p.m., Barbara Rush, a parent of a child attending the center, came in to fill out paperwork. Benson Rivers came with Rush, his girlfriend. Around 5:30 p.m., while Jackson, Rush, and Rivers were there, the last children left. Shortly thereafter, a tall black male in his late teens arrived and rang the bell. Jackson did not know him, but she later identified him as Leak. Leak asked about a child. Jackson responded that the child did not attend the center, and Leak left. Jackson saw Leak walk across the parking lot. A few minutes later, Leak rang the doorbell again. When Jackson opened the door, Leak drew a gun. Leak came inside and told Jackson, Rush, and Rivers to empty their pockets and give him their money. Leak took Rivers's money, jewelry, and wallet. Then Leak moved the three victims into a bathroom. While he was doing so, Leak told someone to stay back. Leak was not speaking to victims Jackson, Rush, or Rivers, but to another person whom Jackson did not see and thus could not identify. Leak told the victims that he had accomplices outside. Leak ordered Jackson to tie up Rivers and then put Rivers in a closet by himself in one of the bedrooms in the daycare center. Leak then ordered Rush to tie Jackson up with telephone cords and forced Rush and Jackson to lie down in a different bedroom than where Rivers was located. Around 6:00 p.m., Crystal Franklin, a parent of a daycare center attendee, arrived to pay her fees. Leak pointed a gun at Franklin and ordered her to lie down in the hallway. Leak then ordered Rush and Franklin into the same bedroom where Rivers was in the closet, and he ordered Franklin to tie Rush up with a telephone cord. Leak then told Franklin to go into the hallway and take her clothes off. Leak raped Franklin in the hallway. [11] Jackson heard Leak raping Franklin. Rivers heard Leak say he was going to have sex with Franklin, and then he heard Franklin saying no, no, no and screaming. After raping Franklin, Leak left, returned again, and then ordered Franklin, who had tied Rush up, to take off Rush's shorts. Leak fondled Rush and put his gun inside her. Rivers heard Leak say he was going to have sex with Rush. Rush told Leak she had a disease, and he did not rape her. The other three victims all heard Rush tell Leak she had a disease. Leak then took Franklin's money and four rings that she was wearing. Leak left the now four victims alone several times and returned periodically. Rivers testified that Leak went back and forth in the back of the daycare center, returning periodically to check on the victims, and told them that he had other people outside. Jackson testified that Leak returned periodically and asked her questions about the daycare center, such as if there was a key to the Coke machine or what was in these cabinets, or what was in the lock box on her desk. Rush also testified Leak seemed confused[,] . . . as if he didn't know what he was doing. He would go backhe would tell us something and he would go back and tell us something again and come back and tell us something different. According to Rush, Leak seemed just as scared as we were. During this time, Leak also asked Franklin for her keys. Shortly after he took Franklin's keys, Leak threw them back to her. The victims testified that they thought another person was present during the robbery. Leak went into the kitchen at one point, and the victims heard cabinets opening and shutting in the kitchen. Jackson testified that the cabinets were being opened and shut too quickly for one person to be opening and closing them alone. To Franklin also, [i]t sounded like it was more than one person when she heard the cabinets slamming. Rivers also testified that he heard noises like there was more than one person in there. Rush testified that she believed another person could have been present because Leak would appear before them very shortly after she heard noises at the opposite end of the daycare center, and because Rush also heard the cabinets slamming quickly. During the robbery, Leak also told the victims he had people outside. At one point, Rush heard Leak yell[] a name like up front, as if he were asking a question, but Rush did not remember what the name was. At the time, Rush thought Leak was lying and that it was a scare tactic. Rush testified that Leak referred to the people outside as my boys. One of the last times Leak returned to the victims, Leak told the victims his name was Joseph Grady [12] and he lived in a group home on Troy Highway. Leak said he could give them his name because no one would find him. Leak also said the last time he robbed someone he had to kill his victims. None of the victims heard Leak use Hall's name during the crimes. After a period of time, the victims realized Leak had left. They untied each other and called the police. Franklin testified that after the incident was over, she could tell that someone had gone through the items in her car. Jackson testified that Hall used to attend the Little People's Workshop, and that he lived directly behind the day care center. Franklin also knew Hall through a mutual friend, John Cartas, that the three of them used to go Wal-Mart together, and that Hall had enjoyed playing with Franklin's daughter.
Leak pled guilty to rape and robbery charges stemming from the Little People's Workshop crimes but was not yet sentenced at the time of Hall's trial. Later, Leak was sentenced to life imprisonment. Leak testified that he encountered Defendant Hall on the morning of October 15, 1999. Hall, who was an acquaintance and former classmate of Leak's, approached Leak with a proposition to get Leak into a gang. Defendant Hall told Leak that, to be admitted, Leak would need to rob the Little People's Workshop. Later that afternoon, about 4:00 p.m., Hall again approached Leak and suggested they immediately rob the day care center. Defendant Hall gave Leak a .38 revolver and instructed Leak to enter the building, give two false names, and see how the place looked on the inside. Defendant Hall had a 9mm handgun. Leak entered and returned outside, and Hall told Leak to rob the day care center while Hall went around the side of the building. Leak went inside, drew his gun, and had the victims tie one another up. Leak then let Defendant Hall into the building and spoke with Hall to get more directions. Franklin arrived, and Leak robbed her. Leak searched the day care center for money. Leak wanted to leave, but Hall told Leak to go back and rape Franklin. Leak did so and returned to Hall. Leak said Hall's name, and Hall said, don't say that name. Hall told him to use the name Joseph Grady and to go back and rape Rush. [13] Leak went back to rape Rush, but she told him she had a disease, so he did not rape her. Leak used the name Joseph Grady in front of the victims and told them that Joseph Grady lived on Troy Highway. Leak went outside with Hall, who searched Franklin's car and then gave Franklin's keys back to Leak. Leak went back inside for a while and threw Franklin's keys back on the ground. Leak estimated he was at the Little People's Workshop for about an hour and fifteen minutes. After he left, Leak gave Hall the money and guns back. Leak kept Franklin's rings. When Leak was arrested, he was taken to the police station, waived his rights, admitted his involvement, and told police that Defendant Hall was with him. On cross-examination, Leak testified that the robbery was part of the initiation into the Bloods gang. Leak admitted that although he said on direct that he was nervous inside the Little People's Workshop because it was the first time he had committed a robbery, Leak previously had burglarized a woman's home and attacked her with a hammer. Leak testified he went into the kitchen only once during the robbery, and he did not go through the cabinets or drawers. Leak said he never took the money from Rivers's wallet and that he took only about fifty dollars from the scene, although Rivers testified that Leak took eleven or twelve hundred dollars from his wallet.
Sergeant Ronald Wilhoit, a gang expert with the Montgomery Police Department, testified about general gang culture and presence in the community. Wilhoit testified that gangs were present in local schools and that a gang associate's commission of a crime made it more likely that the associate would be blessed in, or given full membership, to the gang by the gang's senior members. Wilhoit interviewed Defendant Hall, who said he associated with members of the Crips and Folk Nation gangs. Hall told Wilhoit that he associated with Leak and other suspected gang members. Hall also told Wilhoit that he was associated with Mob One, a local non-traditional gang, as well as other traditional gangs.
Officer Major testified that after he examined the crime scene and took statements from the victims, he took Leak into custody and interviewed him. Leak identified Hall as his accomplice. Officer Major brought Hall to the police station, read him his state juvenile rights and adult Miranda rights, and questioned him. Hall's father was waiting outside the interview room, but Officer Major did not bring him in because Hall did not ask for him, and it is the juvenile's right to have a parent present during questioning, not the father's: If Darryl doesn't ask for his father, his father can ask all day long . . . . It's the juvenile or the defendant's right[,] [s]o Darryl has to physically ask for his father. And at that time I would have brought his father in . . . . [H]e did not ask for his father. Because had he asked for his father, I would have told his father to come. All he had to do was ask for his father. The audiotape of Hall's confession was played for the jury. At the beginning of his taped statement, Hall acknowledges that Officer Major already read him both his state juvenile rights and his adult Miranda rights, that he signed the waiver forms, and that he understood his rights. Then on the audiotape, Officer Major again reads Hall out loud his state juvenile rights, telling Hall specifically that he had the right to communicate with a parent or guardian before questioning. Hall states that he understands these rights and that he signed the waiver form. On the audiotape, Officer Major then reads Hall out loud his adult Miranda rights. Hall states that he understands these rights and that he signed the waiver form. On the audiotape Hall then describes the crimes. Hall saw Leak on October 15, 1999 at around 4:00 p.m., and Hall told Leak that he had to rob the Little People's Workshop in order to get into a gang and because Hall needed the money to go to the homecoming dance that night. Hall and Leak went to the Little People's Workshop. Hall told Leak to go to the front of the building and that Hall would go to the back in order to look out. Before the robbery, Hall gave Leak two guns Hall had gotten about two months earlier from a friend named Reginald Powell. Leak went into the day care center two or three times and stayed in the center approximately thirty minutes each time. While Leak was robbing the day care center, Hall walked into the center twice. The first time, Hall only stepped into the center and then exited, but the second time he stayed for about five minutes, coming approximately three or four feet into the center. During that time, Hall saw Leak tell Franklin to get on the ground and Franklin crying as Leak stood over her. Hall did not see Leak rape Franklin. Hall stated that he exited the center and did not come back in after that point. Hall said that he heard Leak yelling at people to be quiet and get down, and telling Franklin to shut up. Hall said that he did not know how many people were actually inside the center, but he thought maybe 15 or 20. However, Hall saw only Leak and Franklin and a few others when he entered the center. At one point, Hall stated that Leak called Hall by his first name, and Hall, in response, said the name Joseph Grady and stated that he lived on Troy Highway to conceal his identity. During the taped confession, Hall also confirmed to Officer Major that Leak gave him the keys to Franklin's car, and Hall went into Franklin's car, looked around, and then closed the door to the car and returned to the day care center. Hall also stated that he knew Franklin through John Cartas, that he and Franklin were friends and he knew her well. [14] Hall stated that after committing the crimes, Leak ran out the back door of the center and gave Hall some of the money he had stolen, and they both then ran toward their homes. Hall later met back up with Leak and gave the money back to Leak. After running away from the center, Leak gave Hall two checks. Hall initially told the officers that he had cashed checks he got from Leak at a Winn Dixie but later stated that he ripped the checks into small pieces and threw them into some water in a drainage ditch behind a Winn Dixie. During his taped confession, Hall also stated that he told Leak to kill the people in the day care center because they might later be witnesses against Leak and Hall. [15] Hall did not know why Leak did not kill the people in the center. Hall denied telling Leak to rape the women in the center. Hall told the officers where he thought the two guns were located, one being near the doghouse at Leak's house, and one possibly by a ditch near Hall's house. According to Officer Major, the officers searched the drainage areas near Hall's house as well as the area near Leak's house and did not find the guns. Officer Major admitted there were some inconsistencies between Defendant Hall's confession and the victims' statements. Officer Major attributed the inconsistencies to Hall and Leak perceiving things differently. Officer Major stated that Hall originally said there were 20 or 30 people in the Little People's Workshop, but when pressed on this point Hall said he did not really know how many people were there.
At the third trial, Defendant Hall testified in his own defense. On October 15, 1999, Hall went to and returned from school with his sister LaQuanda. Hall and LaQuanda walked to pick up their two other sisters from school, and during their walk home they met one of Hall's friends, Sunkeissa Cantrell. Hall briefly encountered Leak, who said he was coming home from school. Leak said nothing else to Hall. After Hall got home, his brother Dwayne Hall arrived home a little after 4:00 p.m. Hall's mother arrived shortly after Dwayne Hall and fixed dinner. Cantrell called Hall to talk about the homecoming dance scheduled for that night at 7:00 p.m. That afternoon, Hall also spoke on the phone with his friends Stacie Sweazer, John Cartas, Jarvis Blocton, and Quinton Armstrong. It was a multi-way phone call, like a three-way and four-way type. One person would hang up, put someone on hold, and call another person, with several of the friends on the phone at the same time. They were discussing arrangements for going to the dance. John Cartas said he did not know if he would go because he only had two dollars and the dance cost five, but Hall said he had eight dollars and would loan John Cartas three dollars to get into the dance. [16] John Cartas testified that Hall gave him a dollar toward his admission. Defendant Hall and John Cartas attended the dance. They got a ride with Cartas's mother, who picked Hall up at Hall's house at about 7:15 p.m. On their way out to the dance, they saw a bunch of police cars at the Little People's Workshop. Hall spent that night at John Cartas's house. Two days later, police officers arrived at Hall's house around 4:00 p.m. and arrested him. They took Hall to the police station. When Hall arrived, he asked could my dad be in there. And they said don't worry about it, he's upstairs. Hall asked again, telling the officers, I want my dad in here before y'all start questioning me. They said don't worry about it, he's upstairs again and told me to sit down and handcuffed my hand against the desk. Hall admitted he signed the state juvenile rights form and the adult Miranda form, but said he did not have a chance to read them first, and that the officers explained them to him after he signed them. Hall admitted he made the taped statement, but said he was threatened: [B]efore I made that statement, they kept reading [from their notes] to me over and over until I had a real understanding. But I told them it ain't me. They said why you lying. I said I ain't lying. And he had pointed at Officer Grant. Officer Grant came over and kicked the chair and said why you lying, why did you rob and rape the folks. I said I don't know what you're talking about, sir. And he kicked the chair and the handcuff got real tight on my wrist. Then he balled his fist up at me. Then I jumped. Then Officer Major he hit the table and said, you keep lying and we are going to put you in the county with no bond. There is some boys can rape you. On cross-examination, Hall testified he left to pick up his sisters after school at about 3:00 p.m. and returned home around 4:00 p.m. Cantrell called, and he spoke to her briefly but had to stop and eat dinner at around 4:10 p.m. He ate dinner for about five minutes, and then got on a conference call with his friends Armstrong, Cartas, Blocton, and Cantrell, and later also spoke to Stacie Sweazer alone until about 5:00 p.m. Hall then got back on a conference call with Armstrong and Cartas and spoke with them until about 5:40 p.m., then took a shower and got ready for the dance. About 6:00 p.m., Hall got on the phone with his friends again, and talked [b]asically until the time we left. Hall got off the phone at 7:00 p.m. and left for the dance around 7:15 p.m. when John Cartas arrived at Hall's house to pick him up. Hall acknowledged his testimony was different from his prior sworn testimony that he began eating and talking on the phone at 3:30 p.m. and that his mother was home when he got home with his sisters, but Hall said his present testimony was accurate. Hall stated that he told Officers Major and Grant that he did not understand his rights after they were read to him, but admitted that during the taped confession, Hall stated he understood his rights. Hall testified that, after they left the interview session to search for the guns, Officer Grant hit Hall in the mouth with a flashlight about one time, which Hall acknowledged contradicted a previous sworn statement in which Hall claimed that Grant hit him about four or five times. Hall claimed the previous statement must have been misheard or mistyped.
Joseph Grady testified that prior to the trial, he did not know Darryl Hall and had never seen him before. Grady did know Leak, however. Grady had formerly been affiliated with the Folk Nation gang known as the Disciples and had a high-ranking position in the gang. Leak had told Grady at one point that Leak was also affiliated with the Folk gang named Disciples. On October 15, 1999, the day of the crimes at the Little People's Workshop, Grady saw Leak at school and had a conversation with Leak. Grady told Leak that he was living in a group home and was planning to be at the mall that night. Grady never heard Hall's name in connection with any gang.
Reginald Powell testified that he knew Hall and grew up with him. Powell was questioned by two detectives about the crimes at the Little People's Workshop. Powell did not know anything about the incident and told the detectives he did not give Hall any guns.
The defense then called seven alibi witnesses: John Cartas, Ann Cartas, Dwayne Hall, Quinton Armstrong, Jarvis Blocton, LaQuanda Hall, and Bonnie Hall. John Cartas testified that on the afternoon of October 15, 1999, he came home at around 3:00 p.m. After he came home, he immediately called Hall, and someone at Hall's house told Cartas that Hall was busy. Cartas called back about 15 to 20 minutes later and spoke to Hall for about 10 or 15 minutes. Around 20 to 30 minutes later, around 4:00 p.m., Cartas got on a conference call with Hall and another friend, either Armstrong or Cantrell, which lasted for around 20 to 40 minutes. Around 5:00 p.m., Cartas called Hall and spoke to him for about five to ten minutes. Hall again called Cartas around 5:30 p.m., and they spoke for about 20 minutes. [17] Cartas testified he again spoke to Hall by phone one last time before Cartas arrived at Hall's house at around 6:40 p.m. Cartas testified that when he found out what had happened at the Little People's Workshop and that Hall was a suspect, I was just shocked, you know what I'm saying, because I know he couldn't have done it because he was with us . . . . And we was on the phone with him. Cartas attempted to make a statement to Officer Major after he heard about the crime, but Officer Major threatened to arrest him for lying. When asked whether he knew anything about a group called mob one, John Cartas testified that he and Hall, along with Quinton Armstrong, Jarvis Blocton, and Sunkeissa Cantrell, had formed a rap group called mob boys. The only activities the group engaged in were playing video games and rapping. Ann Cartas, Cartas's mother, testified that as soon as her son John Cartas got home that afternoon, a little after 3:00 p.m., he got on the phone with Hall and others. Ann Cartas testified she picked up the phone and listened in on her son's conversation at least three timesat around 3:40, 4:10, and 4:40. The first time, Ann Cartas heard only her son and Armstrong talking, but the second and third times, Cartas was on the phone with Hall. Ann Cartas probably picked up the phone at 5:10 p.m., but she could not remember whom she heard. As far as she knew, her son was on the phone nearly constantly from 3:15 p.m. until 6:00 p.m., but she was not listening on the phone the entire time. Ann Cartas picked up Hall to go to the dance at around 6:40 p.m. Ann Cartas also confirmed that her son and Hall had a rap group which had different names. They used a karaoke machine, and all the kids used to come join in. Quinton Armstrong testified that he was on the phone with Hall on the evening of October 15, 1999. [18] Armstrong called Hall and began speaking to him around 3:15 p.m. Hall said he had to go, and Armstrong called Hall again at around 4:00 p.m. and spoke for approximately five minutes. Hall called Armstrong around 4:30 p.m. Armstrong testified that mob boys referred to a rap group which included himself, Blocton, and Hall. Jarvis Blocton testified that he was on the phone with Hall on the evening of October 15, 1999. Blocton called Hall sometime after Blocton arrived home from school at 3:50 p.m., and no one answered. He tried again later, and Hall answered. Blocton did not remember what exact time he spoke to Hall. Blocton went to work that night and arrived at approximately 5:30 p.m. Blocton also testified that the group known as mob was a rap group that included himself, Cartas, Armstrong, and Hall. Dwayne Hall, Hall's brother, testified that on the evening of October 15, 1999, he joined Hall and his sisters after Hall picked the sisters up from school, and they all walked home together. Dwayne Hall did not see Defendant Darryl Hall talk to anyone on the way home from their sisters' school, including Sunkeissa Cantrell. Dwayne Hall and Darryl Hall were at home from 3:36 p.m. until 6:40 p.m., when Dwayne Hall left to go to a football game. Dwayne Hall testified that their mother was already home and already had food prepared on the table when they came home. Dwayne Hall ate dinner at the table with Hall, and their mother ate in her room. Defendant Darryl Hall was on the phone during the afternoon, but Dwayne Hall did not know who he was talking to. Hall's sister LaQuanda Hall testified that, after arriving at their bus stop after school, she and Hall went home and then left again to pick up their two little sisters from school and then walked back home with their sisters and Sunkeissa Cantrell. Along the way, Cantrell left them to go home, and LaQuanda and her siblings continued to walk until they met their older brother Dwayne Hall. Their mother got home just after they arrived, and the food was not yet prepared. LaQuanda testified that Hall did not leave the house again until 7:20, when he left for the dance with John Cartas and Ann Cartas. Bonnie Hall, Hall's mother, testified that on October 15, 1999, she came home around 4:00 p.m. and prepared dinner for her children. She ate dinner alone in her bedroom. Hall remained at the house from the time she got home until he left for the dance at 7:15 p.m. or 7:20 p.m. Hall was on the phone in his room.
Hall's father, Curtis Hall, testified regarding Hall's arrest and the ensuing police search conducted in the house and backyard. Curtis Hall testified that his son was not involved with gangs and that he had perfect school attendance. Hall had only one discipline problem at school when Hall was running off at the mouth.