Opinion ID: 2581123
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: summary of habeas testimony and trial evidence

Text: {18} We begin the analysis with a summary of the testimony at the habeas hearing and a summary of the trial testimony we consider important to a determination of whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying the petition.
{19} During the habeas hearing, Knight testified in response to questions by the judge that she had lied at trial, she was never at the scene, and she did not know anything about the events leading to Mitchell's death. She explained that during her initial visits with the police, she told them that she did not know anything about the events leading to Mitchell's death. However, she claims she felt pressured because the police interviewed her a number of times and told her they had information that her truck was at the scene. Finally, when Case changed his story and admitted that he was at the scene, she changed her story and gave the police details of what happened, with one lie leading to another. {20} During the trial, over twenty years before the habeas evidentiary hearing, Knight testified to the following. She was seventeen years old at the time and considered Mitchell a friend. She saw Mitchell at a party on the island near Six Mile Dam. Mitchell was with Case, Curtis Worley, Mike Tweedy, Joe Brown, and Dunlap in a car driven by Worley. The boys were talking about what a nice body Mitchell had and how they wanted to have sex with her. Knight did not believe that Mitchell heard the discussion, but the boys talked about gang-banging Mitchell and something about the dam. Knight then saw Mitchell get in a car with the boys and leave the party. About fifteen minutes later, Knight drove in her truck to the dam, where she saw Worley's car parked. She stopped her truck and started to get out, when Case and then Dunlap approached her and told her she should not be there. Knight did not leave immediately because she saw Mitchell in the car with her shirt off and Worley on top of her. Mitchell saw Knight and hollered Help, Audrey. Knight started toward the car, but Case and Dunlap got in front of her and pushed her. She then saw Worley hit Mitchell and saw Tweedy hold Mitchell's hands and then cover her mouth. At that point, Knight left. {21} When asked why she had not told the police what she saw, Knight testified that Case and Dunlap had told her not to say anything or they would hurt her family and a specific friend. She said she was afraid of them. She also described a conversation the next day where the boys, including Case, expressed concern about Mitchell's body being found. {22} During an extensive cross-examination, Knight acknowledged that when she first spoke with the police, she lied and was trying not to tell the police anything about the boys. Having admitted that she lied to the police, she claimed that she lied because she was scared. She also acknowledged under cross-examination that she felt pressure from the police and was a little afraid of them. She indicated that the police were the first ones to use the phrase gang bang. She was not able to verify that Autry was there that night, although she had previously told the police that he might have been.
{23} During the habeas hearing, Dunlap testified that while he was in custody, he initially told the police that he did not have any knowledge about the events leading to Mitchell's death. He was then given a polygraph test and was told by the police that he failed the test. He was jailed for six months with charges pending against him for Mitchell's rape and murder. Despite having told the police that he did not know anything about the events, he decided he needed to make a deal because other witnesses were lying. He scripted his testimony from untruthful testimony he heard at his bail hearing and from the police questioning. Once he memorized the script, he destroyed it and notified the district attorney that he would take an offer of immunity in return for his testimony. Prior to the murder trial, he spoke with the prosecutor for a few minutes, and at trial told the story he had prepared in jail. During the habeas hearing, Dunlap conceded on cross-examination that he never told any of the police, the prosecutors, or his lawyer that he was lying at trial, nor was he ever told to lie. However, he testified that all of his testimony implicating Case was untruthful. {24} During the murder trial, Dunlap testified that he had been granted immunity from prosecution for Mitchell's rape and murder after serving six months in a juvenile detention center. He said that he had initially given a false statement to the police on March 10, 1982. When asked to tell the jury the truth about what happened on January 1, 1982, he stated that he had been at a party near Six Mile Dam and he had gotten a ride in a car driven by Worley. Others in the car included Brown, Autry, Case, Worley, and Mitchell. They drove for a while, then Worley stopped the car and all of the boys got out. When Dunlap started to get back in the car, Worley pulled Mitchell out of the car and hit her in the face, knocking her down. Brown and Case were then holding her on the ground trying to get her shirt off. At that time Dunlap said that lights started to come up the road, so he walked toward the lights. Knight got out of her truck and started to walk toward the people near the car. Dunlap told her to leave because she should not be there. While he was talking to Knight, Mitchell was screaming, but he did not hear her call out for Knight. Case then approached Knight, and after talking with her, Knight left. Dunlap returned to the car, and by then the boys had gotten Mitchell back in the car. When Case returned to the car, he told Dunlap that he had better keep his mouth shut. Brown and Worley then got Mitchell out of the car, put her on the ground, and took off the rest of her clothes. After Brown and Worley got her pants off, Worley pulled his pants off, and Worley, Case, and Brown took turns rolling around on the ground with her. They next put her clothes back on her, and Worley and Case carried her off by the arms, with Joe following them. They were gone for about fifteen minutes, and when they returned without Mitchell, the boys drove back into town with Dunlap. Dunlap was not sure where Autry went when all of this started, but he did not see Autry again. Dunlap also testified that he did not tell anyone what had happened because he was too scared and because Case had threatened him. {25} During cross-examination at the habeas hearing, Dunlap recounted how he had first been questioned by the police for about twelve hours with them getting angry, getting right up in his face, calling him a liar, and threatening him with a murder charge. The officers did not, however, tell him what the other witnesses were saying. Throughout the statement, he told the police he was not at the party on January 1, 1982, but he admitted that he lied to the police. Dunlap also acknowledged that he had heard testimony from Autry and Knight at his transfer hearing on April 12, 1982, months before he decided to give the police the statement that gave him immunity. He also denied seeing Case or anyone other than Worley strike Mitchell, and he said that he did not see anyone strike her with an object.
{26} Autry was the third eyewitness at trial. Dunlap testified that Autry was present at the party on January 1, 1982, but Knight testified that Autry was not there. Autry testified that he was not at a party on January 1, 1982, but that Worley picked him up at a Dairy Queen. With Worley were Case, Brown, Tweedy, Dunlap, and Mitchell. They drove around for a while and then went to Six Mile Dam. While they were there, Worley reached out to pinch Mitchell on the breast and she slapped him, so he hit her and knocked her down to the ground. Autry testified that when she tried to get back up, Case pushed her down once. He thought that Brown appeared to have something like a stick or a piece of pipe, and he said that Brown hit her with it. While she was on the ground, Autry saw Worley grab Mitchell's pants and rip them open, and the other boys all jumped down on her like a bunch of vultures, holding her down and trying to tear her clothes off. He ran home once he saw what was happening. {27} After that day, Autry testified that he received a number of threatening calls from Worley and Case. When the police first interviewed him he did not tell them what had happened, because he said that he and his family had been threatened. He told the police that he was not present when Mitchell was attacked, but he failed a lie detector test when he claimed he did not know what happened to her. After the test, Autry decided to tell the police what happened that night. Autry testified that he did not see either Knight or a truck during the events he witnessed. During cross-examination, he stated that he did not see anyone have sexual intercourse with Mitchell. Autry also acknowledged that he had initially been charged with Mitchell's rape and murder, but he was told that if he testified to what he knew, he would go home.
{28} Case testified at the habeas hearing that he too had perjured himself at trial based on what he heard at trial. He said that he met with his attorney three days before his trial, and that his attorney told Case that he was unable to find any alibi witnesses for him. Case claimed that he had been to Six Mile Dam with these people in the past, but he had not been there on New Year's Day. During the trial, and not during the meeting three days before trial, Case told his attorney that he was in fact there on New Year's Day. It was not originally part of the trial strategy for him to testify during his trial. Case's attorney testified during the habeas hearing that a few days before trial, he met with his client and advised him that he did not have the witnesses to support his alibi defense. It was during this meeting that Case told his attorney to what he would ultimately testify at trial, and when they agreed that Case would in fact testify during trial. {29} Turning next to the trial, immediately after the prosecution made their opening statement, Case's attorney told the jury that Case would indeed testify, describing in detail what information Case's testimony would include. Early in his testimony, Case testified about an event at the Sound Castle, a local teenage hangout, when Worley tried to pull Mitchell from Case's car. He said that as a result he had to slap Worley around. Worley left and then returned with a shotgun, threatening to kill Case. {30} Regarding the events on New Year's Day, he testified that Brown and Worley picked him up at about 10:00 to 10:30. They drove to the Sound Castle, where they picked up Dunlap, and then drove to the Carlsbad Inn, where they picked up Tweedy and Mitchell. They drove for a while and then went to Six Mile Dam. Throughout this time, Worley was constantly pinching Mitchell on the breasts or butt, and she would slap him, but she was pretty much just laughing about it. {31} When they arrived at Six Mile Dam, everyone except Mitchell got out of the car and went to a platform on the dam. Worley went back to the car, and he and Mitchell were joking when he back-handed Mitchell. Case testified that Mitchell told Worley that she needed to go to the bathroom, but Worley would not let her go. He kept wrestling with her on the hood of the car, trying to pull off her shirt. Worley and Mitchell ended up back in the car, so Case went back to the dam because he didn't want any part of this. While this was happening, he saw headlights approaching, so he walked back up toward the car from the dam and told Worley to straighten up, it might be the law. Worley had taken Mitchell's top off. Case walked up to see who had arrived. He recognized Knight, and he told her, Look, stay in your truck and go on back to town. He did not want Knight to see what Worley and Mitchell were doing. Mitchell and Worley stayed in the car for another five to ten minutes. Mitchell was drunk when she got out of the car, and said she still had to go to the bathroom. Halfway down the embankment, she tumbled and rolled the rest of the way to the bottom. Case did not think that the fall was enough to injure anybody. Worley called for her but she did not answer. The boys got back in the car and left her there because Worley did not want to give her a ride back to town. Case testified that he did not see anyone have sexual intercourse with Mitchell that night. Although he verified the presence of Dunlap and Knight, Case testified that Autry was not there. He also admitted during direct examination that he had lied to the police about the last time he had seen Mitchell and his claim that he hadn't been hanging around Worley and the other boys. {32} During cross-examination, he acknowledged telling the police that both Worley and Brown were capable of rape and murder. When the police were investigating Mitchell's death, Case told them to look specifically to Worley, but he did not tell the police what he told the jury about her accidental fall, because he did not want to get involved or have his reputation ruined. Case also admitted that when he saw Worley strike Mitchell, he believed Worley intended to have sexual intercourse with her.
{33} Dr. Greggory Kaufman, a forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Mitchell, also testified at trial. He described receiving her body in a state of moderate to severe decomposition. She was wearing a pink t-shirt that was inside-out, a white bra, and red jean-style trousers with the zipper pulled apart. She had multiple contusions or abrasions that were scattered over her head and multiple contusions scattered over her neck and upper front chest. She also had a couple of contusions over the abdomen, and abrasions over her trunk, the backs of her hands, and the top of her feet. The abrasions appeared to have occurred in the period when the body was dying or post-mortem, and their vertical orientation suggested that the body had been dragged along the ground. The bruising he found on Mitchell's body occurred while the patient was alive and would have resulted from a beating, not from a fall. The internal examination revealed a fracture at the base of her skull on the right side, which could have resulted either in her death or just being knocked unconscious. The pathologist couldn't be sure about the injuries to her brain because it had decomposed. There was a small amount of alcohol in her system, probably due to the body's decomposition. He did not find any human semen during the autopsy and could not prove whether or not somebody had sexual intercourse with her because of the extensive decomposition. In the pathologist's opinion, the cause of death was blunt trauma to the head, and the death occurred approximately three weeks prior to the autopsy, which was performed on January 31, 1982, although that was a very, very rough estimate on his part. On cross-examination, he confirmed that he did not see blood in her vaginal wall, he did not test her undergarments for semen, and he did not find any puncture wounds.