Opinion ID: 453243
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence Considered Under The Ends of Justice Standard.

Text: 30
31 Russell Kumpe, who did not testify at any of the prior proceedings in this case, 8 appeared at the evidentiary hearing as a witness for both the petitioner and the State. Kumpe, while blaming Walker for Vaughan's death, offered a version of events inconsistent with the State's theory at the second trial that Walker fired first and Vaughan, although fatally wounded, returned the fire. Kumpe repeatedly asserted that Vaughan, not Walker, fired first. According to Kumpe, Officer Barentine ordered him to get out of the Oldsmobile, and then told him to spread eagle the police car, which was parked directly behind Kumpe's vehicle. [T. 105.] Kumpe leaned over the left front fender with both arms spread out and his stomach pressed up against the police car. [T. 20.] From that position, he looked down toward the Oldsmobile. [T. 106.] 32 And while I was looking down Walker cracked the door and when he did the dome light came on and I could see that he had a pistol in his hand. And about this same time Vaughan came up and he parked directly behind Barentine but slightly to the right so the two police cars were behind one another. 33 [T. 106.] Barentine was searching Kumpe as Vaughan approached the Oldsmobile. Kumpe warned Vaughan that Walker had a gun, and Vaughan responded that he had a gun and he'd get the S.O.B. And as he approached the car, the door--the door came open and Vaughan shot Jim and Jim returned the fire and shot and killed Vaughan. [T. 107.] Vaughan fired first; the first two flashes came from his gun, and the next flash came [f]rom the car from where Walker was. [T. 107.] Kumpe did not actually see Walker's hand when he fired the shot; he saw only the flash of the gun. [T. 55.] Kumpe swung off the police car and took off. Barentine, who by that time had unholstered his gun, shot Kumpe twice. Kumpe ran around the police car, then looked back and saw Barentine standing near the front of the police car firing down toward Walker and the Oldsmobile. [T. 108.] 34 Kumpe's testimony that Vaughan fired first, if believed, undermines not only the State's theory about Vaughan's death, but the credibility of Linda Ford's testimony that Walker initiated the shooting, and that testimony was crucial to the conviction of Walker. 9 35 After the shooting, police found three weapons at the scene: a fully-loaded Colt .38 revolver found under the front seat of the Oldsmobile; a fully-loaded .38 caliber Smith & Wesson with a two-inch barrel found in Walker's right hand, 10 and the weapon which caused Vaughan's death, a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson with a four-inch barrel, variously described as having been found underneath Walker's body [H. I, 272], near the rear end of the Oldsmobile [H. I, 145], under the right rear wheel of the Oldsmobile [H. I, 366], and underneath the passenger's side of the car. 11 [T. 595.] Kumpe has now admitted ownership of the murder weapon. [T. 21-22.] He also admitted that he had that weapon and the Colt .38 in his possession on the night in question. [T. 21-24, 112.] Kumpe claimed that he left both weapons in the Oldsmobile. 12 [T. 22.] Yet, several witnesses testified at the hearing that Kumpe told them he was armed when he got out of the car. 13 [T. 174-75, 207, 240, 278.] Although Kumpe denied making any such statements, a jury could reasonably infer from the testimony of these witnesses and other new evidence adduced at the hearing that the gun that killed Vaughan was in Kumpe's--not Walker's--possession at the time of the shooting. 36
37 In November 1983, while cleaning out a closet, Russell Kumpe's former wife, Peggy Davidson, found a box containing some of Kumpe's belongings. Included among the belongings was a diary written by Kumpe in 1968 while he and Walker were inmates in the Arkansas Penitentiary. The diary entry for January 16, 1968, reads in pertinent part as follows: 38 Awakened at 1:30 A.M. by nite sheriff--Told only to go to Mr. O's office--Emergency. A great deal of agitating being done by James Dean Walker. I look at him and feel much remorse that I fired too high on 4-16-63. He, according to rumor has vowed that he will kill me at first opportunity. I do not underestimate his potential, but am not alarmed. 39 [Pl.Exh. 1] (emphasis added). 40 The authenticity of the diary stands unquestioned. At the hearing, Kumpe identified the handwriting as his [T. 36], and acknowledged that he kept the diary for over a year. [T. 139-40.] Although Kumpe did not deny making the entry in question [T. 39], he explained that he made a mistake when he wrote I fired too high, because he meant to write he fired too high (referring to Officer Barentine). 14 [T. 41.] Kumpe offered several reasons for his alleged mistake, 15 but ultimately denied that 41 any particular thing caused me to write I instead of he    I think it was the fact that probably that I was writing along and using the pronoun, personal pronoun I, I, I and when I got to that point--I'm guessing now because I was only--I wrote I instead of he    And I can't give you a better answer than that. 42 [T. 138.] 43 The district court characterized Kumpe's explanation that he substituted I for he as somewhat dubious. Walker v. Lockhart, 598 F.Supp. at 1428. Whether a jury would credit his explanation remains to be seen. 16 What is clear, however, is that the diary provides admissible evidence that Kumpe said he fired a shot on the night in question. See id. 44
45 Peggy Davidson, who was married to Kumpe from 1968 to 1975, testified that Kumpe told her on two or three occasions that he was armed at the time of the shooting. [T. 180.] On one of those occasions, in the presence of Davidson and two other people, Kumpe stated that he had a gun in his pants when he got out of the car which Barentine missed during the search, and that he, Kumpe, fell down under the Oldsmobile after the shooting started. [T. 175, 178.] During that conversation, Kumpe did not say whether he had fired any shots. [T. 177-78.] Afterwards, however, when they were alone, Davidson recounted that she said to Kumpe:  'Russell, you shouldn't tell that. The way you tell that,' I said, 'it sounds like you did it.' And he kind of grinned and he said, 'I did.'  17 [T. 178.] According to Davidson, Kumpe told her on another occasion that he only made one mistake. He didn't kill James Dean Walker too. [T. 179.] 46 The district court found that Peggy Davidson's testimony should be viewed with skepticism because of her apparent animosity toward Kumpe and her sympathy for Walker. 598 F.Supp. at 1428. Yet this important testimony, supported by Kumpe's diary entry, is certainly credible enough to deserve the attention of a jury. 47 It may be that Kumpe's diary and his statements to Davidson and others, as hearsay, would not be admissible as substantive evidence at a new trial. Nevertheless, such evidence could at least come before the jury for purposes of impeachment. It is reasonable to assume that if the State retries Walker, Kumpe would again be called as a witness, and that he would be available to testify. 18 Having testified fully at the October 1984 hearing, Kumpe has waived his right to claim the privilege against self-incrimination. Nor could he now claim (as he did to avoid testifying at Walker's first two trials) that he has no memory of the events in question. Presumably the State, having characterized his testimony as critical [Appellee's Brief at 4], would call Kumpe to give his account of the events surrounding Vaughan's death. On cross-examination, the defense could ask Kumpe whether he fired a gun that night. If Kumpe's answer is no, he could then be asked about the diary entry, and about other newly discovered evidence indicating that he fired a weapon that night. If Kumpe admits the diary entry and other statements now attributed to him, then, as Judge Arnold explained in voting to recall the mandate, 48 the fact of these prior inconsistent statements would then be before the jury, together with whatever explanation Kumpe might wish to offer. If, on the other hand, he denies making the alleged prior inconsistent statements, extrinsic evidence of these statements, including the diary itself and the testimony of Kumpe's former wife, could be offered for impeachment purposes. See Jones, Case Note, Roberts v. State: A Limitation on the Impeachment of Witnesses by Extrinsic Evidence of Prior Inconsistent Statements, 37 Ark.L.Rev. 688 (1984). In either event, the jury would know about the diary entry and the alleged oral admissions. It would have an opportunity to observe Kumpe in person and to assess his credibility in light of all the circumstances, including the prior inconsistent statements. Ordinarily, newly discovered evidence is not sufficient to justify new proceedings if it goes only to the credibility of a witness, but this case is so evenly balanced that this sort of impeachment of Kumpe's credibility could well be decisive in the mind of the jury. 49 726 F.2d at 1266. 50 Even if the State does not call Kumpe as a witness, the defense may do so. The State argues, citing Allen v. State, 281 Ark. 1, 660 S.W.2d 922, 924 (1983), that Arkansas law does not permit a party to call a witness merely to lay a foundation for a prior inconsistent statement. However, in the present case, the defense would undoubtedly wish to call Kumpe not merely for impeachment purposes, but for the substantive purposes of establishing that Vaughan fired first and that Kumpe owned the murder weapon and had it in his possession on April 16, 1963. On cross-examination, Kumpe would very probably offer his account of the shooting. The defense would then, on redirect, have an opportunity to impeach Kumpe with his prior inconsistent statements. 19 51
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53 In May 1964, shortly after he was convicted and sentenced to death at his first trial, Walker agreed to make a tape-recorded statement for Jimmy Karam, a member of the Gideons. While in jail, Walker had undergone a religious conversion and had been baptized. Karam wanted to obtain Walker's personal testimony for use by Billy Graham and by the Gideons at church meetings and revivals to help young people not to fall by the wayside as Walker had done. [T. 558.] The tape, which was intended to show Walker's conversion and repentance, was recorded by a state police officer at the Pulaski County Jail. The original tape has apparently been in the possession of the Arkansas State Police since May 1964. [T. 525.] In the course of his testimony as a born-again Christian, Walker says, among other things: 54 And I come to Little Rock, Arkansas, and again, I was drinking and that led to a fight up here in a nightclub. Now it's led to murder. I killed a man out here, plus ... it's probably late now to say that it wasn't done intentionally, but it wasn't.    One day we were having a prayer, and I asked the Lord to forgive me if he could for my sins that I committed because I had committed I can say, ah, every sin imaginable ... stealing up to adultery, fornication ... murder even. 55