Opinion ID: 2788233
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Delayed Appeal

Text: As a preliminary matter, Judge Blackwood confirmed his ability to serve as a successor judge to Judge Wallace and explained that the proceedings would address the Defendant’s original motion for new trial filed in 1992, as well as the new and amended motions filed in November of 2009 and January of 2011. Judge Blackwood announced that he would consider evidence from the post-conviction proceedings only as it related to the -19- motions for new trial, but he declined to address any claims of ineffective assistance of counsel at trial. Judge Blackwood did consider each of the following issues: (1) the sufficiency of the evidence; (2) the prosecutor’s opening statements and closing arguments; (3) prosecutorial misconduct; (4) the selection and empaneling of the jury and grand jury; (5) the jury instructions provided at both phases of trial; (6) various evidentiary rulings by the trial court; (7) the consolidation of presentments and defendants at trial; (8) the use of shackles on the Defendant during both phases of his trial; (9) testimony given by several experts; (10) the constitutionality of the aggravating circumstances found by the jury to impose a sentence of death; and (11) the constitutionality of the death penalty in Tennessee. Judge Blackwood also considered a re-asserted claim by the Defendant that he was entitled to a writ of error coram nobis based on newly discovered evidence, practically all of which had been filed and heard during the post-conviction proceedings before Judge Burch. At the hearing conducted by Judge Blackwood, the Defendant, who served as his only witness, provided testimony to supplement that offered at the post-conviction hearing. In seeking a new trial based upon newly discovered evidence, the Defendant relied primarily upon the testimony of Ronnie Cauthern, Terry Lynn King, and Celerino Quintero. He admitted to being involved in the burglaries in the Leatherwood community but insisted that he was not in that area at the time of the Vester murders, claiming that he was already in Memphis with Quintero. He contended that Quintero’s father had driven from Texas to Nashville to meet them and then driven them to Memphis, dropping them off near the Greyhound bus station there. He asserted that Quintero’s father could not wait for the arrival of Blanton because he had business back in Texas. The Defendant also introduced a telephone record indicating that on June 20, 1988, at 11:33 p.m., a phone call was made from one of the telephones at the bus station to the same area code as calls that had been made to Quintero’s brother, Bryan, from one of the burglarized residences. In response to crossexamination, the Defendant offered various excuses for not informing his trial counsel about his alibi evidence—such as he was not paying close attention during the trial, did not think the dates were relevant, and “didn’t [even] know [he] had an alibi.” After the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Blackwood denied the Defendant’s motions for new trial and his petition for coram nobis relief. On appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals, the Defendant claimed that Judge Blackwood should have granted him a new trial on the following grounds: (1) Judge Wallace died before the motions for new trial had been fully resolved; (2) new, exculpatory evidence had been discovered after the trial; (3) the convicting evidence was insufficient; (4) the jury observed the Defendant in shackles during the course of the trial; and (5) his trial counsel were ineffective in the investigation for having failed to locate the telephone call from the Greyhound bus station in Memphis on the date of the murders. The Court of Criminal Appeals rejected all claims and affirmed the convictions and sentences. Hall, 2013 WL 5761311, at . -20- The Defendant has raised the following issues for review by this Court, many of which mirror those filed in the Court of Criminal Appeals: (1) whether Judge Blackwood, as a successor judge, was required to grant a new trial after the death of Judge Wallace; (2) whether the Defendant is entitled to a new trial based upon newly discovered evidence; (3) whether the evidence is sufficient to support his convictions; (4) whether trial counsel were ineffective; (5) whether the Defendant was improperly shackled in the presence of the jury; (6) whether the death penalty is unconstitutional; and (7) whether appellate review of death sentences in Tennessee is substantively and procedurally inadequate. The Defendant has also sought to preserve “all issues from his original direct appeal, on post-conviction, and presented in the most recent motion for new trial pleadings.” In an order filed August 22, 2014, this Court expressed its particular interest in the first two issues raised by the Defendant, which relate to Judge Blackwood’s role as a successor judge and the impact of the alleged newly discovered evidence submitted in support of the Defendant’s re-asserted petition for writ of error coram nobis. We will also address the use of shackles on the Defendant during his trial. As for the sufficiency of the evidence and the propriety of the sentence of death, we will briefly address these issues that were previously resolved by the original direct appeal. We decline to consider any of the Defendant’s claims as to the ineffective assistance of trial counsel because those issues are being held in abeyance pending the final disposition of this delayed appeal. As indicated in our October 30, 2009 “Corrected Order,” the Defendant will be permitted to amend his original post-conviction petition to include any issues that may arise from the handling of this delayed appeal. Finally, in our view, any remaining claims raised by the Defendant but not addressed in this opinion were satisfactorily addressed and rejected in prior decisions by this Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge Blackwood, and Judge Wallace. See State v. Hall, 976 S.W.2d 121 (Tenn. 1998) (direct appeal); State v. Hall, No. M2012-00336-CCAR3-DD, 2013 WL 5761311 (Tenn. Crim. App. Oct. 22, 2013) (delayed appeal).