Opinion ID: 3176573
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Original Crime and State Court Proceedings

Text: On January 7, 1993, Petitioner–Appellee Kevan Brumfield and an accomplice, Henri Broadway, opened fire on a Baton Rouge Police Department vehicle driven by Corporal Betty Smothers. Smothers was escorting Kimen Lee, an assistant manager at the grocery store where Smothers worked part time as a security guard, as Lee made the grocery store’s nightly bank deposit. Brumfield fired seven rounds from the left side of the police cruiser, and 2 Case: 12-30256 Document: 00513375522 Page: 3 Date Filed: 02/10/2016 No. 12-30256 Broadway fired five rounds from the right side. Lee survived, but Smothers did not. Baton Rouge police officers arrested Brumfield for Smothers’ murder on January 11, 1993. When police interrogated Brumfield, he initially denied any involvement in Smothers’ murder and claimed that he had been with his brother at the time. After Brumfield’s brother denied that claim, Brumfield gave a videotaped statement admitting that he drove the getaway car but denying that he murdered Smothers. Later, Brumfield gave another videotaped statement where he admitted to being in the bank parking lot and firing shots at the police car. Following a multi-week trial in June and July of 1995, a jury found Brumfield guilty of first degree murder. He was subsequently sentenced to death on July 3, 1995. Brumfield appealed his conviction, but the Supreme Court of Louisiana affirmed the state trial court. Brumfield (La.), 737 So. 2d at 662, 671. And the Supreme Court of the United States denied his petition for certiorari thereafter. Brumfield v. Louisiana, 526 U.S. 1025 (1999). In March 2000, Brumfield filed for postconviction relief with a state trial court before the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in Atkins, 536 U.S. at 321, prohibiting the execution of intellectually disabled criminals. 1 Brumfield later amended his state petition to assert an Atkins claim and argued that he was entitled to an evidentiary hearing on his intellectual disability claim. 2 Brumfield requested funds to develop his claim, 1 Consistent with the Supreme Court’s guidance, we use the term “intellectually disabled” instead of “mentally retarded.” The two terms describe “identical phenomen[a].” Hall v. Florida, 134 S. Ct. 1986, 1990 (2014). 2 Brumfield provided the following evidence of his intellectual disability: 1) his IQ score, obtained prior to trial, of 75; 2) his slow progress in school; 3) his premature birth; 4) his treatment at multiple psychiatric hospitals; 5) various medications he was prescribed; and 6) testimony that he exhibited slower responses than “normal babies,” suffered from seizures, and was hospitalized for months after his birth. 3 Case: 12-30256 Document: 00513375522 Page: 4 Date Filed: 02/10/2016 No. 12-30256 but the state trial court denied his petition in its entirety on October 23, 2003. Brumfield then filed a writ with the Supreme Court of Louisiana, alleging, inter alia, that the trial court erred by failing to hold an Atkins hearing. That court denied the writ without explanation. Brumfield v. State, 885 So. 2d 580, 580 (La. 2004).