Opinion ID: 798459
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Thacker's trial proceedings

Text: On December 30, 1999, Thacker was charged by information in the District Court of Mayes County, Oklahoma, Case Number CF-1999-305, with first-degree malice aforethought murder. On February 8, 2000, a first amended information was filed charging Thacker with first-degree malice aforethought murder (Count I), kidnapping (Count II), and first-degree rape (Count III). On February 25, 2000, the prosecution filed a bill of particulars alleging the existence of three aggravating circumstances: (1) the murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding or preventing lawful arrest or prosecution; (2) the existence of a probability that Thacker would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society; and (3) the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel. A first amended bill of particulars was filed on June 12, 2002, but the substance of the three alleged aggravating circumstances remained the same. Three attorneys from the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System (OIDS), Silas Lyman II, G. Lynn Burch, and Gretchen Mosley, were appointed to represent Thacker. On December 2, 2002, the eve of trial, Thacker waived his right to a jury trial and entered a blind guilty plea to the crimes charged in the first amended information. [1] In a handwritten addendum to the written plea of guilty, Thacker wrote as follows: Ct. 1 I took Mrs. Hill from her home to Locust Grove where I strangled and stabbed her. I killed Mrs. Hill on December 23, 1999. Ct. 2 I took Mrs. Hill by force from her home and took her to Locust Grove. I took Mrs. Hill to a remote cabin where nobody could find her. Ct. 3 I forced Mrs. Hill to have sexual intercourse with me and that included penetration. All the charges are true and were committed on or around December 23, 1999 in Mayes County. I am pleading guilty to the charges listed because I am in fact guilty and I do not wish to cause the victims [sic] family and friends more pain by forcing them to endured [sic] a long drawn out trial. I have caused enough pain and heartache and I [sic] am deeply sorry and want to put this to an end for everyone. State ROA, Vol. C at 509. At the state trial court's direction at the accompanying plea hearing, [2] Thacker elaborated on his handwritten statements: THE COURT: Mr. Lyman [defense counsel], I would like for you to inquire of Mr. Thacker more of the details and what he was thinking when this happened, sir. MR. LYMAN: Yes, Your Honor, thank you. First of all, Steven, this is something that you want to do, isn't it? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes, sir. MR. LYMAN: Regarding Count 1 of the death, the death of Mrs. Hill, would you in your own words tell the court how it came about that you came to her home that day? DEFENDANT THACKER: I was looking in the newspaper ad and I saw an address for a pool table and I called her house and she give me directions to her house to come and look at a pool table. MR. LYMAN: When you made that call and arrangements, what was your plan? DEFENDANT THACKER: I had intended to rob whoever was home. MR. LYMAN: Did youand had you ever met her before? DEFENDANT THACKER: No. MR. LYMAN: Did you know when you went there it there would be anybody else present but her? DEFENDANT THACKER: No. MR. LYMAN: Did you go there? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: Did you go into her home? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: Did you go look at the pool table. DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes, I did. MR. LYMAN: Did you abduct her and take her from her home without her permission? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: Would you tell the court a little bit how that came about? DEFENDANT THACKER: I pulled a knife on her and asked her to give me her money and she informed me she didn't have any money at the house but she had an ATM card and so I forced her to go with me to use the ATM card. MR. LYMAN: Forced her by taking her to the car you came in? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: And did you hold onto her? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: Did you use your knife? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: At that time in a menacing way? DEFENDANT THACKER: Right. MR. LYMAN: You didn't stab her at her home? DEFENDANT THACKER: No. MR. LYMAN: And where did you take her? DEFENDANT THACKER: To Locust Grove, there was a remote cabin in Locust Grove. MR. LYMAN: You were familiar with that cabin before? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: Is that then the Marge Fry? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: Acreage or home place? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: In your mind Ms. Hill didn't want to go with you, did she? DEFENDANT THACKER: No, she didn't. MR. LYMAN: And you took her to that cabinIn effect, Your Honor, we're going to end up probably covering the elements of the other two. THE COURT: And we'll let the record show that the elements of all three counts will be shown here in this inquiry. MR. LYMAN: When you took her to the home, did you take her there wanting to make sure people didn't know where she was at? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: Now, at the cabin what happened? DEFENDANT THACKER: I raped Mrs. Hill at the cabin. MR. LYMAN: And by rape would you tell the court what that means to you? DEFENDANT THACKER: We had sexual intercourse and penetration. MR. LYMAN: And that was against her will? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: Did you threaten her? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: Did you promise that you would let her go if you, if she would do that? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes, I did. MR. LYMAN: And you had sexual intercourse with her? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: Now, after that what happened? DEFENDANT THACKER: I tied her to a chair and was going to leave and I got scared and panicked that she would get away and run and tell somebody or get help, that I would get in trouble and get caught. MR. LYMAN: So what did you do? DEFENDANT THACKER: So then I went back in and I killed her. MR. LYMAN: The state's information indicates that part of the method of her dying was strangulation. Did you strangle her? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: Did she resist? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: The information also indicates that she died from mortal injuries as a result of being stabbed more than once, twice I believe. DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: Did you stab her? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: Did she die? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: The taking to this cabin, raping her and then eventually killing her, did that happen in Mayes County? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes, it did. MR. LYMAN: And did all of those things occur on the same day as the day you went to look at the pool table? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. Tr. of Plea, Dec. 2, 2002, at 17-22. The state trial court, after questioning Thacker further about his admissions, found that Thacker was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of all three charged crimes. Id. at 27-28. The subject of Thacker's capacity, both at the time of the crimes and at the time of his plea, was also addressed during the plea hearing (as well as during an in camera hearing that occurred immediately prior to the plea hearing). To begin with, the state trial court, after detailing Thacker's mental health history, questioned Thacker and his attorneys about Thacker's understanding of the proceedings against him: THE COURT: Okay. Because of any of that circumstance being diagnosed as bipolar, taking lithium, not taking lithium, having gone to some sort of a mental health facility in Huntington, West Virginia, having drug rehab in Florida at the age of 16, do you believe any of those things affect your ability to understand and comprehend the nature and consequences of this hearing today? DEFENDANT THACKER: No, sir. THE COURT: I'll ask your counsel, Mr. Lyman, do you and the rest of the defense team believe that Mr. Thacker is competent to understand what's going on here today? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes, Your Honor. Id. at 9. Thacker's counsel subsequently addressed, albeit briefly, the issue of Thacker's competence at the time he committed the charged crimes: MR. LYMAN: You know and I want you to think back when this occurred did you know what you were doing was wrong? DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes. MR. LYMAN: You know why you did it? DEFENDANT THACKER: No. Id. at 23-24. At the time of his plea hearing, Thacker also waived his right to a jury trial on the three aggravating circumstances alleged by the State. Accordingly, a non-jury sentencing trial was held in the case beginning on December 17, 2002. At the conclusion of the evidence, the state trial court found that all three of the alleged aggravating circumstances had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and in turn found that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating evidence presented by Thacker. [3] Based upon these findings, the state trial court determined the appropriate sentence for the murder conviction was death. The trial court formally sentenced Thacker on December 23, 2002, to death for the murder conviction, ten years' imprisonment for the kidnapping conviction, and fifty years' imprisonment for the rape conviction.