Opinion ID: 750139
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Crime and the Trial.

Text: 16 Fretwell, his wife, and a third accomplice left Springtown, Texas, in a stolen truck on April 27, 1985. They stole a pistol and shells at a filling station in Texas and a second truck in Clinton, Arkansas. When that truck broke down on April 28 in Marshall, a town in northern Arkansas, the trio discussed robbing and killing a filling station attendant. Fretwell awoke early the next morning. The filling station was closed, so he approached the home of Sherman Sullins, where a truck was parked in the driveway. Fretwell knocked on the door and asked the unsuspecting Sullins for assistance. Sullins invited him in. Fretwell drew his pistol, robbed Sullins of his money and truck keys, and knocked the elderly Sullins down with a blow to the head. When Sullins arose, Fretwell shot him in the head at close range. The three bandits fled in Sullins's truck, continuing their crime spree until arrested in Wyoming in early May. 17 When arrested, Fretwell was in possession of the pistol and Sullins's truck. While in Wyoming, he gave two taped confessions to the Sullins murder. The first interview was conducted by a Wyoming county attorney, the second by a sergeant with the Arkansas State Police. Facing capital murder charges, Fretwell's two accomplices offered to testify against him at his trial. 18 Counsel was appointed after Fretwell made the two confessions, waived extradition to Arkansas, was charged with capital murder, and faced a trial in Sullins's home town. Counsel first entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. That defense was abandoned when both the state hospital and Dr. Stevens examined Fretwell and opined that he was competent at the time of the murder. Counsel then moved to suppress Fretwell's confessions on the ground that Fretwell had not knowingly waived his Miranda rights. The court deferred ruling on that motion until the eve of trial, when Wyoming law enforcers would be available to testify at a suppression hearing. Correctly perceiving that the motion would not succeed, counsel persuaded Fretwell that he should tender a plea of guilty to the court, because under Arkansas law such a plea, if accepted, spares a defendant from the death penalty. 3 19 The problem with counsel's plea strategy was that Arkansas law requires prosecutor consent to such a plea. Fretwell's prosecutor would not agree because he was seeking the death penalty. Defense counsel nonetheless persisted, first tendering a guilty plea that the trial court refused; then offering to stipulate away the guilt phase of the trial, which the prosecutor and court also refused; and finally raising the issue unsuccessfully on appeal to the Arkansas Supreme Court. See Fretwell, 708 S.W.2d at 631-32. The district court criticized counsel for not knowing his position was contrary to law, but the transcribed client conferences reveal that counsel was fully aware that the prosecutor would object to the guilty plea and likely prevail on that legal issue. Unlike the district court, we view this as a creative attempt to avoid the risk of the death penalty in a case where conviction of capital murder was virtually certain. 20 In pursuing these pretrial strategies, counsel obtained the services of Dr. Stevens concerning insanity, possible mitigating circumstances, and suppression issues. Counsel also recognized that jury selection would be very important in this death penalty case. During a pretrial hearing after the guilty plea had been rejected, counsel asked the court to order compliance with a local rule that potential jurors complete written questionnaires. Counsel explained, perhaps the only strategy the defense has at this point is in jury selection. 21 At the start of the trial, the motion to suppress Fretwell's confessions was denied after a hearing. Counsel again tendered a guilty plea, seeking to avoid the guilt phase of the trial. The court denied that motion, ruling that the prosecution was entitled to put on its evidence of the crime. The jury then heard thirteen prosecution witnesses describe the ruthless murder, plus the tapes of Fretwell's confessions. 22 Fretwell was the only defense witness at the guilt phase of the trial. On direct examination, he admitted killing Sullins during the robbery because I was just scared, didn't know what I was doing. He testified that he had only one prior criminal conviction, that he voluntarily confessed shortly after his arrest in Wyoming, and that he waived extradition and returned to Arkansas to stand trial. Then came cross examination that, in the district court's view, sealed [Fretwell's] fate both in the guilt phase and the penalty phase. We agree that the prosecutor's cross examination was powerful, ending with the following exchange: 23 Q: All right. So you went up to Mr. Sullins' door and knocked on it and asked him for some help? 24 A: Yes, sir. 25 Q: And Mr. Sullins offered you assistance and help and let you into his home, didn't he? 26 A: Yes, sir. 27 Q: And in a matter of a few minutes you robbed him of all the money he had on him, robbed him of the keys to his pickup truck and shot him in the head at a distance of about three feet or less, didn't you? 28 A: Yes, sir. 29