Opinion ID: 2806272
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence of Page’s Plea Offer

Text: On December 13, 2013, Young’s counsel interviewed Russell Stuteville, who was in custody with Page before Young’s trial. Stuteville allegedly told Young’s counsel that Page not only used the word “we” when referring to the Petrey homicide but also admitted that he held Petrey at gunpoint on various occasions. According to Stuteville, once Page began meeting with the prosecution he changed his version of events to focus on Young’s actions and no longer said “we” in reference to the murders. Id. Stuteville also said Page told him that he was going to plead guilty and receive twenty years of probation. This led Young’s counsel to reinterview Page. In a January 9, 2014, interview with Young’s counsel, Page allegedly said that he entered into a plea agreement before Young’s trial. After reviewing his plea agreement, however, he stated that his dates were wrong. Then, in another interview on February 21, 2014, Page allegedly admitted that the prosecution offered him an unconditional thirty-year plea bargain before Young’s trial. In further interviews in April and May of 2014, Page allegedly clarified that the offer was verbal and involved comments such as “[g]ive me what I want and I’ll give you what you want.” Similarly to Stuteville, Elias Gomez, who was also incarcerated with Young, stated in a February 20, 2014, interview that he “recalled Page saying he had a plea deal with the state.” Young does not offer new testimony from Page’s trial counsel or the prosecution to rebut their previous testimony that, despite discussions of plea bargains, there was never a plea bargain with Page. B. Evidence of “Inducements and Threats to Additional Witnesses” Additionally, Young alleges that the prosecution failed to disclose that it offered inducements to or intimidated three government witnesses—Dano 7 Case: 14-51288 Document: 00513070062 Page: 8 Date Filed: 06/08/2015 No. 14-51288 Young (“Dano”), Joshua Tucker, and Patrick Brook. Young alleges that, during an April 2014 interview, Tucker, for the first time, talked about certain inducements made by the prosecution. Tucker was convicted of committing an unrelated robbery with Young shortly before the murders and was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. During the sentencing phase of Young’s subsequent murder trial, a government investigator, J.D. Luckie, transported Tucker and Brook to the courthouse to testify. While driving them the investigator allegedly told Tucker and Brook that they might receive favorable treatment or reduced sentences if they testified for the prosecution. Additionally, the investigator allegedly told them that Young was a child molester and beat his girlfriend. The former comment appears to be a reference to Young sticking his penis in an inmate’s ear during a fight. Tucker allegedly told Young’s counsel that, but for the prospect of favorable treatment and the negative comments about Young, he would not have testified. Brook also stated in an April 2014 interview that, after being arrested for the unrelated robbery he committed with Young, investigators told him he would receive ten years in prison or less if he cooperated during the sentencing phase of Young’s trial. Dano is Young’s half-brother. The day before he testified at Young’s trial, Dano was arrested for drug possession. According to Young’s lawyer, during a May 2014 interview, Dano alleged that, while en route to Young’s trial, he was told that if he cooperated with the case he might receive help on his pending drug charges. Dano also received the impression from a government investigator that, if he didn’t cooperate, his time in jail for the drug charges would be made more difficult or longer. This investigator allegedly also told Dano “everyone knows [Young] is guilty” several times. Young does not explain why he did not obtain this evidence from his brother earlier. 8 Case: 14-51288 Document: 00513070062 Page: 9 Date Filed: 06/08/2015 No. 14-51288 C. Newly Discovered Evidence that Page Shot Petrey Lastly, Young argues that this court should authorize filing and consideration of his successive motion to evaluate the impact of “newly discovered evidence of innocence.” This evidence concerns comments three individuals—James Kemp, John Hutchinson, and Amanda Williams— allegedly overheard Page make concerning his culpability for Petrey’s murder. On December 13, 2013, Young’s investigator interviewed James Kemp, who was incarcerated with Page from late 2009 to early 2010. Young’s counsel was allegedly prevented from interviewing him before Young’s second state habeas hearing. Kemp alleged that, in 2010, before he testified at Young’s second state habeas hearing, he was visited by two agents from the district attorney’s office. These agents allegedly left Kemp with the impression that he would benefit by not testifying in Young’s favor. He did not, and received a ten-month sentence, which ran concurrently to a prior sentence. Kemp would allegedly have otherwise testified that he overheard Page say, through the prison ventilation system, that the police didn’t find fingerprints on the gun from the Petrey shooting because Page had worn gloves and that Page was lucky not to get a longer sentence, given what he actually did. John Hutchinson was another witness Young allegedly tried to interview before his 2010 habeas hearing. Hutchinson told Young’s counsel in a February 2014 interview that law enforcement had also paid him a “hostile visit” before the 2010 state habeas hearing, so he did not testify in Young’s favor. Hutchinson told Young’s counsel that he overheard Page say that he killed Petrey with a .22 caliber pistol. Hutchinson also stated that Page said he received a favorable deal compared to his accomplice, who was on death row. Amanda Williams is the third witness who allegedly overheard Page making inculpatory comments. Williams claims that, before the murders, she overheard Page talking to McCoy about wiping bullet casings before loading 9 Case: 14-51288 Document: 00513070062 Page: 10 Date Filed: 06/08/2015 No. 14-51288 them to avoid leaving fingerprints. Williams also claims that she overheard Page say that going to the police first after getting into trouble results in a “better deal.”