Opinion ID: 702574
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: New evidence presented

Text: 14 Battle presents as new evidence an affidavit by Charles Hall, the tipster who originally turned police suspicion to Preston. According to the affidavit, Hall watched a group of people, including Battle and Preston, drinking in the street in front of his house during the early morning hours of the date of the murder. He also states that his stepson, Julius Henderson, woke him early that same morning to inform him that Battle, Preston, and Rowan were breaking into Ms. Johnson's home. Hall learned later that Ms. Johnson had been murdered. Finally, he avers that he heard Preston threaten Pearl Thompson about one week after the murder, telling her he would do to [her] what [he] done to that old lady. 15 When Hall initially contacted police with his tip, he related the alleged incident with Pearl Thompson. After police questioned Preston, a woman, purportedly Thompson, called police to report that whoever reported the threat was lying. When queried as to why anyone would make it up, she replied that Preston was disliked and that many people would like to harm him. Thompson is now deceased. Preston could not remember making the threat but told police he was frequently drunk and said a lot of crazy things he did not mean. After Battle confessed to the murder, police again contacted Hall and Preston. Both confirmed that Battle and Rowan had been drinking near Ms. Johnson's house on the date of the murder. 16 Hall's stepson, Julius Henderson, was contacted by Battle's attorneys. Henderson declined to get involved. However, according to the affidavit of Battle's counsel, Henderson related that he had seen Battle, Preston, and Rowan walking in the direction of Ms. Johnson's house. He later saw Preston walking in the opposite direction alone. 17 These statements must be taken in conjunction with Preston's eleventh hour confession, more than five years after Battle's conviction and sentencing. At Battle's state postconviction hearing, Preston, who was by then on death row with Battle, claimed to be the real killer. However, the state court found Preston's testimony not only to be not credible but to be incredible. Battle v. Missouri, PCR 1459, slip op. at 9 (Cir.Ct., City of St. Louis, Apr. 10, 1987) (order denying postconviction relief). Absent a showing that the state court finding of fact was somehow deficient, see 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2254(d), we are bound by that finding. We have no reason to doubt the state court's finding, and, after reviewing Preston's testimony, agree completely. We therefore give no weight to Preston's purported confession. 10 18 Even crediting the affidavits, and considering the cumulative effect of the new evidence therein, 11 we do not believe that any reasonable juror, presented with all the evidence would, more likely than not, have entertained a reasonable doubt as to Battle's guilt. For the most part, the affidavits confirm what no one disputes--that Preston was drinking in the area the night of the murder and was with Battle and Rowan. Since Preston lived in the neighborhood, knew Battle sufficiently well to engage in chess matches with him, and told police himself that he had been drinking with Battle and Rowan that evening, the affidavits contain very little that was not already before the jury. 19 The only items which would be at all new or probative are Hall's hearsay testimony as to Henderson's seeing Preston aiding Battle enter Ms. Johnson's home, and, perhaps, Preston's disputed threat to Pearl Thompson. 12 This information simply does not work to exonerate Battle. At best, it incriminates Preston, thus lending tangential support to Battle's version of the facts. See Allen v. Nix, 55 F.3d 414, 417 (8th Cir.1995) (evidence indirectly supporting petitioner's version of facts insufficient to establish actual innocence). It does nothing to detract from the physical evidence placing Battle at the scene, from the placement of the prints suggesting that Battle was the last to leave, or from Battle's vivid and detailed confession, which was corroborated by the state of the crime scene. 20 Even assuming Battle's trial was not error free, tangential evidence raising the faintest shadow of doubt as to whether Preston was along that night is not the new reliable evidence--whether it be exculpatory scientific evidence, trustworthy eyewitness accounts, or critical physical evidence which destroys our confidence in the outcome of the trial. Schlup, --- U.S. at ----, 115 S.Ct. at 865. It is certainly not so strong that adding it to Battle's confession, belated retraction thereof, and the physical evidence, would more likely than not create a reasonable doubt in the mind of any reasonable juror as to Battle's actions against Ms. Johnson. 13