Opinion ID: 3043542
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Criminal Offense and Trial

Text: On January 24, 1987, Patrick Cunningham was working as the desk clerk for the Anderson’s Motel in Cullman, Alabama. Hamm v. State, 564 So. 2d 453, 2 Case: 13-14376 Date Filed: 08/03/2015 Page: 3 of 72 455 (Ala. Crim. App. 1989) (“Hamm Direct Appeal”). At approximately 10:30 p.m., Kathy Flanagan1 stopped at the motel to rent a room for the night. Id. While Flanagan was registering, a small-framed white male entered the motel to ask about a room. Id. Cunningham informed the male that he needed a reservation, and the male left. Id. Moments later, the first male returned accompanied by a second male wearing blue jeans and a faded green army jacket. Id. Cunningham told Flanagan that “it ‘looks like there is going to be trouble’” and apparently pointed Flanagan in the direction of a room, but Flanagan returned to her car. Id. From her car, Flanagan saw the individual in the green jacket point a revolver at the registration desk but could not see behind the desk; she also saw the first male standing by the door and noticed a banged-up 1970s model car in the parking lot, with its engine running, and possibly a third individual inside. Id. Flanagan left the scene, drove to a nearby telephone, and called police to report a possible robbery. Id. Upon arriving at the motel, police discovered Cunningham’s body on the floor behind the front desk. Id. Cunningham had been killed by a single shot to the head from a .38-caliber pistol. Id. The evidence further established that he had been shot in the temple from a distance of approximately 18 inches while he was 1 In some documents, her name is spelled “Flannagan.” 3 Case: 13-14376 Date Filed: 08/03/2015 Page: 4 of 72 lying on the floor. Id. Cunningham’s wallet, containing approximately $60 was missing, as was approximately $350 from the motel’s cash drawer. Id. A Cullman police officer learned that two men matching the descriptions given by Flanagan were also wanted for a robbery-murder that had taken place in Mississippi that same day. Id. at 455-56. A nickel-plated .38-caliber revolver had been taken during that robbery. Id. at 456. On January 25, the same officer spoke with Douglas Roden, who had been stopped while driving a car matching the description given by Flanagan. Id. Roden claimed that he and his sister-in-law, Regina Roden, had been kidnapped by Hamm and two others. Id. Roden further stated that he and Regina had been held captive in a trailer home during the time of the motel robbery while Hamm and another individual left with the car. Id. In addition, Roden asserted that he and Regina had escaped the trailer that morning and had taken the car. Roden directed police to the trailer. Id. At some point, the police learned that the trailer was owned by Hamm’s nephew. Id. Later that day, a search warrant was obtained for the trailer and a fugitivefrom-justice warrant was obtained for Hamm for a robbery in Mississippi. Id. During the search of the trailer, authorities discovered a nickel-plated .38-caliber pistol, a green army jacket, and several rounds of .38-caliber ammunition, including some in the pocket of the jacket. Id. 4 Case: 13-14376 Date Filed: 08/03/2015 Page: 5 of 72 Hamm was arrested and booked on the fugitive warrant. Id. He initially denied any involvement in the murder and robbery at the Anderson’s Motel, and Flanagan failed to identify Hamm in a lineup. Id. Nevertheless, Hamm was placed under arrest for the motel robbery. Id. The next day, Hamm gave a statement to the police that was recorded, in which he admitted his initial statements were false and he confessed to the robbery and murder of Cunningham. Id. Subsequently, it was discovered that the Rodens had lied in their initial statements. Id. They had not been kidnapped and, in fact, Douglas and Regina were the two individuals present with Hamm at the Anderson’s Motel during the robbery and murder; Douglas was the first male individual to enter the motel. Id. The Rodens entered into agreements with the state where, in exchange for testimony against Hamm, they would receive lesser charges. Douglas agreed to plead guilty to murder and received a life sentence; Regina pled guilty to robbery and hindering prosecution. Id. at 456-57. Hamm was tried in the Circuit Court of Cullman County, Alabama, and found guilty by a jury of robbery-murder on September 26, 1987. Id. at 464. A separate sentencing hearing was then held before the same jury. Id. During the hearing, the state moved into evidence all evidence from the guilt phase of the trial as well as two convictions for robbery Hamm received in Tennessee in 1978. Id. at 464, 466. 5 Case: 13-14376 Date Filed: 08/03/2015 Page: 6 of 72 Hamm’s counsel called two witnesses in mitigation: Hamm’s sister Ruthie Murphy2 and a Cullman County deputy sheriff, Dennis Johnson. Murphy testified about Hamm’s harsh upbringing, the extensive criminal histories of Hamm’s brothers, Hamm’s alcohol and drug abuse, and Hamm’s epilepsy. Murphy also testified about their abusive father, who, among other things, was a criminal and alcoholic who forced his children to drink alcohol and steal (or otherwise they weren’t “a Hamm”), required the children to bring him switches (presumably for beatings), and would line his children up and shoot a firearm over their heads. Johnson testified that Hamm had been a cooperative prisoner during his time in county jail. The jury recommended on September 28, 1987, by a vote of 11 to 1, that Hamm be sentenced to death. The state court then found that two aggravating circumstances had been proved beyond a reasonable doubt: that a capital offense was committed during a robbery (the underlying crime here of robbery-murder satisfied that factor), and that Hamm had previously been convicted of a felony involving the use, or threat of violence to a person (the Tennessee convictions). Hamm Direct Appeal, 564 So. 2d at 466. The sentencing court then found that none of the statutory mitigating factors were present in Hamm’s case, but did find the existence of non-statutory mitigating 2 In some documents, Hamm’s sister’s last name is spelled “Murphree.” 6 Case: 13-14376 Date Filed: 08/03/2015 Page: 7 of 72 factors based on Murphy’s and Johnson’s testimony. Id. at 466-68. The court credited Murphy’s testimony and found that Hamm’s father “created an obstacle to the development of [the Hamm boys’] character, which was, indeed, difficult to overcome,” and that Hamm’s upbringing “absolutely had a negative influence on the Defendant.” Id. at 468. The court noted, though, that Hamm’s two sisters were able to rise above this influence and be good citizens. Id. The court also acknowledged that Hamm had a poor education and suffered from epilepsy. Id. Finally, the court recognized that Hamm had been a cooperative prisoner at Cullman County jail, that he had agreed to talk to offenders about changing their lives, and that he did voluntarily confess to the crime. Id. Despite the existence of these mitigating factors, the court found that the aggravating circumstances outweighed them and sentenced Hamm to death by electrocution. Id. at 469. Hamm’s conviction was upheld on direct appeal to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, id. at 464, and the Alabama Supreme Court, Ex parte Hamm, 564 So. 2d 469, 473 (Ala. 1990). Both courts conducted a plainerror review of the proceedings and found nothing warranting reversal. Hamm Direct Appeal, 564 So. 2d at 463-64; Ex parte Hamm, 564 So. 2d at 473. The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari. Hamm v. Alabama, 498 U.S. 1008, 111 S. Ct. 572 (1990). 7 Case: 13-14376 Date Filed: 08/03/2015 Page: 8 of 72