Opinion ID: 161004
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Spears's Confession Letter (Strickland Issue)

Text: 43 Gonzales's trial counsel seriously erred in failing to prevent the admission of Spears's confession letter. In addition to providing Gonzales's alleged confession, the letter states that Gonzales carried out the crime because Williamson refused to allow him to sodomize her, and because he became enraged when she defended herself by striking his genitals. Moreover, the letter includes a graphic depiction of the details of the crime as Spears imagined it to have occurred. Finally, Spears alleged that Gonzales had additional rape convictions in Texas and Kansas. The letter was, in all respects, apt to provoke shock and disgust in members of the jury. 44 In addition to the improper allegation of prior rape offenses and the graphic description of the crime itself, we are especially concerned about the impact of Gonzales's purported confession. [T]he confession is a dramatic and impressive type of evidence. Bond v. Oklahoma, 546 F.2d 1369, 1376 (10th Cir. 1976). To a jury which may otherwise be uncertain about a defendant's guilt in light of evidence presented, a confession can erase any traces of doubt. In Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 139-40 (1968) (White, J., dissenting), Justice White discussed the compelling nature of a confession. 45 [T]he defendant's own confession is probably the most probative and damaging evidence that can be admitted against him. . . . Even the testimony of an eyewitness may be less reliable than the defendant's own confession. An observer may not correctly perceive, understand, or remember the acts of another, but the admissions of a defendant come from the actor himself, the most knowledgeable and unimpeachable source of information about his past conduct. Certainly, confessions have profound impact on the jury, so much so that we may justifiably doubt its ability to put them out of mind even if told to do so. 46 See also Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 296 (1991) ([A] full confession in which the defendant discloses the motive for and means of the crime may tempt the jury to rely upon that evidence alone in reaching its decision. . . .); Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368 (1964) (holding that a jury is unable to heed a limiting instruction when presented with a co-defendant's confession that implicates defendant). 47 Despite this, Strickland prejudice was decided by the Kansas state court under correct U.S. Supreme Court law, so we review it only to determine if it involved a clearly erroneous application of law to the facts to conclude that Spears's letter was non-prejudicial. See 28 U.S.C. 2254(d)(1); Williams, 529 U.S. at 407-08. Were we to address this de novo, we would be inclined to conclude it is prejudicial because of the uniquely important impact of confessions. But just because we believe the state court's decision was wrong does not mean it was clearly erroneous. The evidence of guilt was very strong, and we cannot say it is clearly erroneous for the Kansas court to conclude that the admission of the confession did not cast doubt on the reliability of the process or that the outcome probably would have been different.